Before Revenge
by InfinityxInfinity777
Summary: Amanda Clarke (before she went to Juvy and embarked on Revenge), is 16 and living in a foster home when by chance she encounters Daniel G. In a whirlwind of events she ends up going back to the Hampton's with him, where she encounters her childhood friend, Nolan Ross with the truth, & the powerful Grayson's. Is revenge still sought after? Does her love reside with Daniel or Jack?
1. Chapter 1- Encounters

**Disclaimer: I Do Not Own Revenge, I Just Love It**

* * *

 **A/N**

 **This story is about Amanda Clarke before she went to Juvy and embarked on her journey of Revenge. She is 16 and living in a foster home when by chance she encounters Daniel Grayson. In a whirlwind of events she ends up going back to the Hampton's with him, where she encounters her childhood friend Jack Porter, Nolan Ross with the truth about her father's innocence, & the powerful Grayson's who had condemned him. Is revenge still sought after? Does her love reside with Daniel or Jack?**

 **The first few chapters will mostly focus on Amanda and Daniel, because they are not in the Hampton's yet. But when she does go back, she'll reunite with Jack Porter, and sparks might fly ^.^, much to Daniel's discontent as his feelings for her might develop ^.^**

 **And then as said in my description, Amanda will eventually run into Nolan Ross who holds the truth about her father, and that's when the real chaos will begin because she'll know the sinful acts the Graysons had committed.**

 _ **Those of you who are reading my other Revenge fanfiction, "Now I Am Haunted", I haven't abandoned it, the next chapter is in the works...so I know it's been a long while, but I hope there is still interest in it.**_

 **Anyway, enjoy this first chapter below, and if you like it, comments are always appreciated =D**

* * *

 **Chapter 1: First Encounter**

Stepping into the local convenience store, with a confident gait in his walk, Daniel Grayson, scanned the small shop, before cruising down the aisles until he found where the refrigerated drinks were kept.

Reaching for a bottle coke, he could almost hear his mother's contempt in his head, as if she were beside him with a disapproving frown on her face at the empty-calorie drink he insisted on drinking.

Luckily she wasn't though, "Queen Victoria" as they all called her was in the Hamptons, where he lived a rather lavish lifestyle for a boy of only 16.

Right now he was in Connecticut though, on a field trip he had taken with his football team, to compete in a tournament against other fancy private schools, much like the one he attended in New York.

As the shopkeeper quickly processed his item, out of the corner of his eye Daniel caught sight of a girl, who looked to be about his age. A girl with long jet black hair, who had subtly slipped something into her sweater pocket, before swiftly exiting out of the store.

Daniel frowned, feeling a bout of disdain wash over him, at the shameful act he'd witnessed, and after paying for his drink, he couldn't help but run out of the store and after that girl to tell her so himself.

For a teenage boy coming from the Hampton's, a boy raised by two parents with corrupted morals, and secrets soaked in sin, Daniel had a strong sense of what was right and what was wrong, some would argue, a naive sense...and stealing did just not sit well with him.

Turning around to face the stranger who had ran up behind her, she looked at him with an unfriendly gaze in her eyes,hoping her bristly disposition would send him a message.

He was very handsome, something even she could notice… he was tall, well built, and he had chocolaty brown eyes, and thick dark brown hair. Unlike most girls though, he didn't faze her, her description was simply an observation, true to the eye, but not to her teenage hormones...or worse to a petty teenage heart, like most 16 year old girls her age had. She wasn't like them though, she didn't lust over handsome guys or fret over how to gain their attention, and though she found their actions annoying and contemptuous, a part of her wished she could be like that...a part of her wished she could hold a normal teenage life.

But she couldn't, her past...no her father's treacherous actions had condemned her, his so called "loving" daughter to the hellish present she lived in now, and the poor future she knew she had to look forward to. For that alone, she'd always hate him.

"What?" she replied irritably, annoyed by the interruption, as she stared at the stranger in front of her.

"I'm just wondering" Daniel replied, not quite matching her unfriendly tone, though trying too, as his gaze shifted from her eyes to the pocket, where the stolen item was hidden, "Would it have hurt to have paid?"

He watched the expression on her face, hoping to see shame or regret, or something to show she was sorry, but all he saw was disdain, as she muttered, "I hate self-righteous people...they don't know a thing".

"You don't have to be self-righteous to know that stealing is wrong", Daniel retorted, put off by her attitude.

The girl folded her arms over her chest, her lips curling up into a little smirk, as if she were amused by his naive view, before she harshly said, "That's easy for rich people to say, your whole life, you've probably had everything spoon-fed to you from a silver platter. You probably never had to work or ask for anything...and yet I bet you still find reason to complain about your picture perfect life, don't you?"

Daniel bristled at her comment, it striking a familiar nerve with him, but before he could reject what she had said, she had continued on with her next sentence. The expression behind her eyes having changed to something more vulnerable, something sad, "Not everyone has such an easy life you know, so I'm sorry if my values are a little more gray than your own"

Daniel shook his head slowly, "I have grown up rich" he admitted, affirming what she had so easily guessed from his appearance, "but you can't just assume that all rich people have it easy, that's just not fair. Having money doesn't necessarily mean that...having money doesn't equate to having happiness."

"Whatever" the girl muttered, feeling suddenly exhausted from the conversation she had never even asked for, "I don't even care" she added as she turned her back to him and began to walk away.

Daniel frowned at her as he watched her turn the corner, wondering what kind of life she'd had to have adopted the view she did... He could only guess not an easy one.

* * *

 **Second Encounter**

It was around the early evening, just before the sun was starting to set, when he had spotted her again. This time with a group of his football buddies, who to his irritation, were even more loud and obnoxious than usual being buzzed from the beer they'd just downed. At 16, they of course were underage, but slip the shopkeeper an extra $50 dollars, and of course, he'd let you buy a pack of beer, he'd open them for you too.

It was one of the guys that had noticed her, he'd laughed and said, "I'm glad girls don't look like that in the Hampton's"

Daniel had frowned in irritation, he hated when they'd make comments like that, bashing certain girls and then feeling self-righteous as if their judgement was what made a girl pretty. Countless times, he'd had to have told them to just shut the hell up. It was one of the many reasons why, although he sometimes hung out with them, he could in no way consider them his friends.

As the guys had shifted their gaze to the girl under scrutiny, Daniel had taken a quick look too, surprised to see it was the girl he had talked to on the streets earlier on that day. She was sitting on the bench alone, with earphones in her ear, and a notebook and pen in her hands. It looked as though she was writing something, he could only wonder what.

"Look like what?" another one of the guys had asked as he stared at her from afar, "She doesn't look bad, she's got a slender body at least"

She didn't look bad at all Daniel couldn't help but think, when he had approached her on the street earlier and she'd turned to face him, he had noticed that she'd had striking brown eyes, and a really pretty face. It was like her face was hidden behind the long black hair she hid behind though. It didn't suit her, and he was almost certain that it wasn't her natural hair colour. She was probably a blonde, or a very light brown. The guys were idiots, quick to deem her as unpretty though, because instead of wavy summer dresses which showed off bare long legs, or tight tops which accentuated the breasts, instead, she wore dark skinny jeans, and a simple black sweater.

"Well after, you're whale of an ex-girlfriend, I'm not surprised that's all you're looking for in a girl" was the next comment causing an eruption of laughter.

"It's her hair, it makes her look like all emo or something, and her clothes do not help one bit either" another commented, causing murmurs of agreeance.

"You just want to ogle what's under her black sweater" another guy teased.

"Haha, if she has anything to offer"

"Maybe you should go ask her then, I heard emo girls are easy to get once you start talking about bdsm and shit."

"Maybe I will then" said a guy who loved a good dare all too much, as he began to walk closer towards her, pumped on by his friends amused looks. He would do it too, unbothered by how his actions might be wrong, if he could get a good laugh out of it.

"I wish you'd stop being an idiot", Daniel said sharply, as he grabbed him by the arm, stopping his advance, the guy glared back at Daniel, shaking his arm out of his grip, "Just having a bit of fun, Grayson" he responded, getting murmurs of agreement from the rest of the guys.

"No, you guys, are being crass and acting like idiots" Daniel replied, disdain clear in his voice, as he began to walk away from them all, "Now lets go, Coach is expecting us back for practice in 15 minutes!"

He had ruined their fun, but they followed him anyway, quickly running up behind him, he was a Grayson, and it was best not to fight with the entitled heir.

* * *

 **Third Encounter**

Slipping his rather expensive leather bound journal underneath his arm, Daniel Grayson grabbed his jacket, and quietly crept out of his hotel room, stepping into the elevator to get to the first floor where the front entrance was.

It was almost 12:00am, and he had a game the next morning but he just couldn't sleep. He didn't know why, it wasn't as though it was nerves or anything. But as he'd laid there in the bed, he'd found his mind wandering to thoughts about the girl he'd encountered twice that day, her words especially imprinted in his mind, " _Not everyone has such an easy life you know, so I'm sorry if my values are a little more gray than your own_ ".

For some reason, her words had sparked intrigue in him, a feeling that made him want to write. So he had grabbed his poetry journal, and the fountain pen his younger sister Charlotte, had bought him for his last birthday and he had wandered outside. It was always outside where he wrote his best stuff.

As the cool nighttime breeze, swept past him, he slipped on his jacket and began to walk towards a place he knew would be perfect to write. It was where the girl had been writing in her journal, when the guys from his football team had spotted her. The bench she was sitting at had been overlooking a lake, which was quite a nice view, but more importantly, it was right beside a lamppost, which he obviously needed if he were to be writing in the middle of the night.

As he approached the bench from behind, he spotted a figure sitting on the end of it, and he nearly turned around, wanting to find a place where he was alone, but as he took a step closer he realized it was the same girl he'd been encountering, the one with the long black hair, and the sad, angry look behind her eyes.

Not wanting to startle her, he slowly walked around the bench and sat down at the other end of it, turning his head to face hers as she looked up at him in complete surprise, recognizing him from this afternoon.

"What are you doing here" she murmured bitterly, narrowing her eyes at him suspiciously, as if he'd known she'd be here all along.

Daniel held up his journal, "I wanted to write" he replied almost sheepishly, realizing how foolish that probably sounded considering the time it was at night. But then again she was there too.

Something didn't seem right about that though, not many teenage girls stayed out till midnight alone on some bench, even if it was for creative purposes, and what about parents? Not many would allow that, it wasn't exactly the safest place to be out alone in, especially as a girl.

"I saw you here earlier" Daniel admitted, "with what looked like your journal or something. I don't really know this place, but I like writing outside and I remembered this place had a lamppost."

"You don't strike me as one passionate about writing" the girl said aloofly.

Daniel shrugged his shoulders, that's why he hadn't told many people, it didn't so much fit his Hampton's rich boy image, "Well, neither do you" he replied pointedly, "and it's the poetry part of writing that I'm interested in, not so much the 6 page essays they make us write in English Class"

"Those are tediously brutal" he added with an exaggerated tone to his voice, as he rolled his eyes to further emphasize his dislike for those.

The girl's lips couldn't help but crack into the smallest of smiles, knowing all too well, what English Class essays were like. But as soon as it had flashed across her face it was gone...still Daniel had caught a glimpse of it and he couldn't help but feel a small sense of accomplishment, knowing that he'd put it on her face.

"You're wrong" the girl murmured, her voice sounding slightly less standoffish, as she looked into his brown eyes.

"About what?" Daniel asked intrigued, his brow furrowing in slight confusion, as she held up what he had assumed to be her journal, "This is a sketchbook, not a journal...I don't write, I draw"

"Oh" Daniel murmured, his lips curling up into a friendly smile, as he chuckled lightly, "You do look more like an artist than a writer"

Unsure of what that meant, the girl instinctively frowned at him, but noticing he quickly assured her that it was a compliment, to which she only shook her head at slightly unamused.

"What do you draw then?" he asked casually, finding himself wanting to know more about this particular girl.

"I don't know" she replied detachedly, looking as though she didn't want to divulge any more information to him, as she stood up from the bench gathering her things. He could almost sense it, her already beginning to pull away, even though the conversation between the two of them had only just started. For some reason it make him feel kind of disappointed, "Whatever I feel like, I guess...sceneries are always nice" she slowly added.

Standing up from the bench himself as she began to walk away, he couldn't help but say, "You don't have to leave so soon, you know", Feeling almost guilty as though he'd pushed her away himself, "There's room on this bench for the both of us...and if you don't want to talk I'll be quiet"

The girl sighed, as she stopped and turned back to look at him, "This a good place" she admitted, "It's even better when you're alone" she added slowly though not resentfully since she had been finished there anyway.

Watching her walk away for the second time that day, Daniel found himself increasingly intrigued by her.

He should have gotten her name, he thought.


	2. Chapter 2- Exchange Of Names

**Disclaimer: I Do Not Own Revenge, I Just Love It**

* * *

 **A/N, _I'm really glad this story has sparked up a bit of_** _ **interest xD, and thank you for all the lovely comments I received, they honestly make me so happy =D. Anyway here's chapter 2, I hope you equally enjoy reading it.**_

 **Chapter 2: Exchange Of Names**

She was there again the next day...there sitting on the small wooden bench by the lamppost overlooking the lake. She was wearing all dark colours, having switched her black sweater for a dark grey one, and her earphones were plugged in, no doubt to drown out the world around her.

With her sketchbook in her left hand, and a pencil in her right, she was intently sketching, looking completely absorbed by whatever it was she was trying to create...as though she were in her own little world, a safe world he presumed.

Hesitating from his spot afar, unsure of whether to interrupt her when she looked so peaceful in her solitude, Daniel's sense of intrigue towards her got the best of him; propelling him into slowly walking up to her, muttering, "Hey Again" to get her attention.

She looked up at him slowly, and once again he couldn't help noticing her striking brown eyes, so rich in deep colour, though sadly expressing such a pained, troubled manner behind them, one he felt as though had been there a long time.

Pulling out a single earphone from her ear, as if she was unsure of whether she wanted to pay him any attention, she warily responded, "Hey" as she quickly shut her sketchbook so that he couldn't catch a sneak peek of her drawings if he tried to.

He wouldn't do that though, he caught the sense that they were private, and that was something he could understand with his own poetry. It was something he could respect.

"I was wondering if I'd bump into you again...not that I was looking, I just came here to…"

"Write" the girl muttered, rolling her eyes at him, before looking down at the leather journal in his hands. "You even any good?" she flippantly asked.

Daniel shrugged, before taking a seat beside her, making sure to leave a good space between them, they still only were a little more than strangers. "I like to think so" he replied, "but being that I'm the only one who has ever read and critiqued my stuff, I can't say for sure".

Smiling as if remembering something funny, he continued and said, "Well actually there was this one time, I read a poem of my own to my little sister, but I wanted an honest opinion and I didn't want her to know I wrote it, so I read it under the guise that it came from some book in school." He paused chuckling, "I don't think she really got the poem though, she quickly dismissed it as boring...but then I just like to think she hasn't acquired a good taste towards poetry yet."

Catching the tiny smile that flitted across her face, he jerked his thumb towards her sketchbook, and asked in return, "You any good at drawing?"

She shrugged in response as well, "maybe" she muttered, though something told him, her drawings really were something special, whether she knew it and was hiding it..or whether she truly didn't know her own ability. "I just draw to…" she paused mid sentence, as if catching herself about to divulge something she didn't want to, "never mind" she muttered, casting her shaded eyes away from him.

She drew because it was the one thing she found a semblance of peace in. She drew because for a couple hours a day it cleared her mind from all the pain that consumed it.

She drew, because it made her feel connected to her mother, a mother she'd lost too young, a mother whose face she had to strain herself to see...to remember.

Still one memory of her stayed imprinted on her mind, it was of them sitting outside together, an easel and canvas in front of her mother, and a smaller one in front of her infant self. They were painting together, well her mother was painting quite skillfully too, while she was simply swirling random shapes and colours on her canvas. Still, the feeling she felt, the innocent love, the simple happiness, the peace...maybe if her mother hadn't died, it could have all been different...she could have been saved.

"Wait...what?" Daniel gently pressed, wanting to know what she was going to say, but she only shook her head in return. There was no reason to let him in to such deep thoughts even if he stared at her with such sincerity in his chocolaty brown eyes when she talked.

Finding the need to fill the silence that had transpired, Daniel quietly began to speak. "I guess for me I just like the feeling of sitting down with my notebook in one hand, my pen in the other, and my hand moving, splashing words linked to my thoughts and emotions across the page…I don't know " he murmured, feeling suddenly sheepish, unaware that his words had made perfect sense to her, "I guess I write because I find it peaceful, and there's just something about poetry you know...so simple...yet so complex, like a paradox in itself."

Shrugging her shoulders indifferently at his last words, she murmured, "I wouldn't know I don't read poetry, couldn't even name one myself".

"Well...want to hear something from off the top of my head then?" he suggested, to which she merely shrugged in response, despite the small sense of intrigue she felt.

Catching it in her eyes, he smiled, before softly reciting his favourite line from an Oliver Wendall Homes poem he was familiar with, " _Where we love is home_... _home that our feet may leave but not our hearts."_

"It's rather short" she murmured her interest clearly waned, with the words he spoke not resonating with her in the same way it had him when he'd first read it.

"Well it's only a line, from a much longer poem called Homesick In Heaven. Still for some reason it's just always stood out to me."

"I don't see why" she muttered tiredly, narrowing her eyes at him before adding,"there's nothing special about it, homes just an illusion after all".

"Homes where you're rooted to, like an anchor for a boat...it's where you feel safe, be it with a person or a certain place. There's nothing fake about that", Daniel replied, justifying the line's significance and his own liking towards it.

"Unless you're not rooted to anywhere or anyone" she countered, his comment stinging her heart by reminding her of the simple things people took for granted, things she didn't even have,"Or did you forget such sad people exist in this world" she quipped, her eyes staring into his unwaveringly, until he averted them away, not knowing how to respond.

"Anyway", She muttered, standing up, and grabbing her sketchbook. "I have to go", and by have to, she meant want to. She preferred to be alone; the less connections; be them strong or weak, the less opportunities to get hurt...and therefore the overall better. It was a simple philosophy that she followed and right now he was already challenging that and invading her desire for solitude.

"See you tomorrow then" Daniel casually replied, watching with amusement to gage her reaction from his words which implied a further meeting. He wasn't so ignorant as to think that she'd suddenly taken an interest in him, like he'd unintentionally taken an interest in her. But still, it's what he wanted for when she wasn't glaring at him or completely closing herself off, he quite enjoyed talking to her. Her words full of rawness and truth, as opposed to in the Hampton's where everything said was sugarcoated, as to preserve ones image. His mother was the greatest at that, she could spit spite and malice upon a person with the sweetest of tongues and the brightest of smiles...she was deadly in that factor, like the serpent hidden between the foliage of flowers.

Swiveling around to face him, the girl frowned, her eyes narrowing in irritation as she looked at him, and frigidly asked, "You're coming back?"

Daniel merely shrugged, "I like this spot" was his infuriating response, causing her to tensely snap back, "You can find another then". This spot was the one place in Connecticut where she felt both a sense of peace and a sense of safety...and she wasn't ready to give that up yet, especially to some privileged boy who didn't need it like she did.

"You can't claim a spot of your own, unless you actually own it". Daniel challenged, "I'm just asking to share it with you for a couple of evenings...that's all."

Crossing her arms defiantly across her chest, she sighed heavily "Then you're gone?" she questioned, too enthusiastically for his liking.

Daniel nodded his head, "I'm just here for a football tournament with my school" he explained, "and if we make the finals... _which we will_ ", he couldn't help but confidently add, "then Saturday will be the finals and by Sunday we'll be back home and this spot will be all yours again."

She hesitated as though she had a choice in the matter and could stop him from coming to _her_ spot if she said no. Still he waited for her response, smiling brightly at her nonetheless after she begrudgingly muttered, "Fine", sighing to show her contempt.

It was a kind smile though, a welcoming one, the kind that was never usually directed at herself….a smile that unintentionally softened the sharpened features on her face.

"Thanks" Daniel replied lightly, "..and if I bother you so much, no ones saying you even have to show around this time. Though if you do, you might find that I actually make pretty good company."

"If I do" she rebutted, "then you'll probably find that I don't make pretty good company"

Daniel only laughed, his eyes focusing in on hers as he muttered, "Somehow I don't believe that".

She scoffed in reply, casting her eyes away from his warm brown ones, confused by his lighthearted attitude, "You don't even know me".

He shrugged, "True, can I at least know your name though?" he indirectly asked, causing her body to inadvertently tense up, as she hesitated.

Exchanging names, was such a simple action…yet to her it was an action that caused an overwhelming sense of anxiety due to the name she'd been condemned with; Clarke. A name, that instantly made people freeze, or recoil, or glare in disgust as though she was the manifestation of her father's actions, instead of one of his most crippled victims.

She didn't want to be Amanda Clarke...she was tired of such a loathsome, unforgiving burden, for once she wanted to be someone different, someone unknown, someone without a past that people knew...for once she wanted to be free.

"Emily" she replied slowly, tentatively.

"Emily Thorne" she said again, this time with a resoluteness in her voice, marveling the way the weightless name rolled off her tongue.

It was a name she'd created when she'd first been placed in the foster care system. Those years were the hardest of her life; having to adapt to such a cold, unwelcoming environment, while coming to terms with what her father had done by losing the innocent faith she'd lovingly placed in him. It had been unbearable, so as a coping mechanism; in her mind, she'd created another girl. A girl like her, but happier, free of strife. One with a father and a mother who loved her, and a warm bed that they'd tuck her into every night. A girl who was clever and strong, who knew how to fight the bullies, and cultivate friendships….a girl who never cried...a girl she'd named Emily Thorne.

"I'm Daniel" he warmly replied, satisfied now that he finally had her name. "Daniel Grayson".

"Grayson" she repeated quietly, causing her body to freeze once again. She knew that name all too well. The Grayson's were heavily involved in the trial against her father. It was through their company that her father had channeled money through to the terrorists responsible for the downing of flight 197. She had always felt as though there was more to that story though….an intuition that their connection ran deeper….that they'd dirtied their hands too like her father, but somehow escaped the repercussions.

There was a secret too, one that was never brought to light, one that involved her father, and Victoria Grayson; the conniving and callous Queen of the Hamptons. The two of them had been having a romantic affair. Even now she remembered those cold, unwelcoming eyes of the dark-haired lady, who had followed her father up those steps to his bedroom, zeroing in on her childhood self hidden behind the cabinet carefully watching in her nightgown with mistrust.

Her instinct had been right even then, that women had clearly not held any real love for her father, for she'd betrayed him as soon as his allegations had come to light. Betrayed him, when she was probably the one who had poisoned him into doing what he had.

"You've heard that name before", Daniel guessed from her reaction, sighing tiredly. He too felt the weight of his surname upon his shoulders, and though he wasn't so ungrateful as to ignore the benefits it carried, he also knew all too well of the burden it posed...and often the unwarranted or unsuited responsibility it cast upon himself.

She nodded her head slowly, a sad smile flitting across her face, "Anyway, I should go" she murmured, turning around quickly, needing time to process what she'd unintentionally discovered, as she shoved her hands in her jacket pocket and began to walk away.


	3. Chapter 3- A Good Person

**Disclaimer: I Do Not Own Revenge, I Just Love It**

* * *

 **Chapter 3: A Good Person**

It was a cool Wednesday evening, the very next day when Daniel slipped out of his hotel room again. He was exhausted from the grueling practice his coach had worked the team through, but after the bargaining he'd had to do the night before with Emily, just to get a spot beside her on that bench overlooking the lake, and hopefully another chance to talk to her, it just didn't feel right missing out on the night. So grabbing his jacket, his sketchbook, and a couple of necessary accessories, Daniel casually made his way to that one spot, feeling an unexplainable sense of relief when he saw her dark silhouette on the bench from behind, glad his little plan hadn't pushed her away. "You're here" he murmured with a warm smile on his face.

Slowly turning her attention towards him with guarded eyes, Amanda only shook her head ever so slightly as if she was skeptical of his friendly demeanor or unsettled by the thought of somebody actually wanting to get along with her. "Not for you" she felt the need to state, "I'm here because I like this spot for drawing, and 9 pm is a nice time to come out here…it's when this town finally gets quiet."

And most importantly it kept her away from the house.

About half a year ago, she'd been placed in her sixth foster home, to an apathetic couple who were only in it for the little bit of money they received for her care. Care which wasn't even provided, when it was much simpler to just ignore her. That worked best for her though anyway, she wasn't a weak, trembling, little child anymore, confused by the chaos she'd been thrown into. She was well aware of how the world worked now, alert... stronger and very much capable of looking after her own damn self. Anyway it was when the husband didn't ignore her when things became bad. For when notice was taken, it was usually when he was intoxicated which was never a good thing with alcoholics prone to aggression.

So she avoided the house as best as she could, she woke up early and went to school... or often times she would skip, for she wasn't so foolish to believe she had a future anyway, not with the name she'd been condemned with. So she'd mostly just spend her days, wandering the streets plugged into the cracked iPod she had stolen from a classmate in her last school, or sitting down in the back of the public library sleeping, where no one would bother her, or as Daniel had come to find, sitting down on the bench overlooking the lake; drawing, an action she found the most solace in. Usually she stayed out until midnight, creeping back into the house when she knew both her foster parents would be asleep.

Ideally, she would have liked having a part-time job, she wouldn't mind the shitty shifts they'd keep her busy, and at least then she could attain some of her own money... something to keep her afloat, when the foster care system could finally rinse themselves of her once she turned 18.

But it was hard getting a part-time job as a teenager in the foster care system, a teenager with no experience and no connections... and it was next to impossible getting a job if you're last name was Clarke, a name that brought about the instant feeling of anger and disgust.

"and you get to see the sun set" he added gazing up at the sky, to see the orange and red hues, blending into the darkening skies. "The views just as nice as it is back home in the Hampton's" he murmured unaware that a millennia ago, or so it felt, she had once seen many Hampton's sunsets as a little girl who had felt happy and secure in the world she thought she knew.

A girl who had lived for the outdoors playing from dusk to dawn on the beach it now pained her to remember. A beach with soft golden sand, which had felt hot against her bare feet, as she had run gaily across it during the hottest part of the day. A beach that had made her giggle and smile with happiness, as she had chased after her adorable little puppy, Sammy, or the boy with the bright, friendly eyes and the curly black hair.

Jack Porter; who she had spent her best summer days with, running around freely, eating ice-cream and building sandcastles with, completely oblivious to the heavy darkness, slowly encroaching in on her picture perfect life.

How could she have known though? How could she have guessed that her father, her father who had been on that beach with them, her father who had smiled, and laughed, and hugged her with such warmth, could be capable of actions so cold and remorseless.

"I doubt that" she muttered sourly, "I'm sure everything's better in the Hampton's, with your... _upscale, glossy_ lifestyle". It was an uncalled for dig, especially in the spiteful way she'd said it and she knew it, even hated herself for it knowing that he wasn't just a pompous jerk like most of the one _percenters_ around...but still she was angry, bitter and who else was better to take her anger out on, than the privileged son of the people who had thrown such turmoil and hardship into her own life.

Maybe this was a mistake after all, learning his name, had made her want to learn more about him, to comprehend, how such a seemingly kind person could be related to such an evil. But already, he'd stirred up thoughts from her past, thoughts she'd purposely tried separating herself from. Thoughts that turned her into even more of a bitch than usual.

Bristling in anger, Daniel frowned he got this too often, and it was damn frustrating. He understood apologizing for ones wrongful actions...or ones hurtful words but having to apologize for his wealth as though it was something shameful, something he should feel guilty about was just unfair. " Not when there's people like you around passing judgement where it's not due, clumping us all together, as if we're all selfish and vain... not all of us are, you know... I'm not." he retorted, expelling out the rest of his frustration in a sigh, as he watched her reaction...waiting for the cutting retort, or icy glare or the inevitably of her simply ignoring him and walking away.

Amanda did none of those things though, instead she surprised him by responding with the simple words, "I can see that", her voice sounding quiet, and hushed.

"What?" Daniel asked skeptically.

"That you're actually a good person." she muttered, looking back at him with what seemed like sincerity in her dark brown eyes.

Not knowing what to say, Daniel simply nodded his head, all forgiven as his lips curled up into another warm smile. "You don't seem half bad yourself" he lightly replied.

Amanda only scoffed, she wasn't a good person, she was sure of that... she was bitter, angry and all around messed up to the core. Her only redeeming quality being that she wasn't necessarily a bad person either. "I've been nothing but rude to you".

Daniel merely shrugged, "You're sharing this spot with me now aren't you?"

"Because I had no choice" she countered, though not bitterly, just to make her point.

Pausing, Daniel looked towards her with searching brown eyes, as he steadily asked, "You're not still mad about that are you? Because if it really bothers you then I won't come back here."

Averting her gaze from him, Amanda hesitated ever so slightly, for a part of her wanted to say yes, to push him away, for fear his lightness might dare warm her frozen heart, or for fear that he might actually make her wish she wasn't always so alone. But the other part of her wanted to say no, to share just a little bit of company with him for a few stray days, before returning to her cold, but ultimately safe, unthreatened solitude.

Shaking her head slowly, Amanda pursed her lips together before bravely murmuring, "It's fine I guess..."

"I'm glad" he replied, as he pulled out two cans of coke from his large jacket pocket, handing one to her as he murmured, "Because I come bearing gifts, a peace offering of sorts for sharing this spot with me".

"Thanks" she mumbled uncertainly, watching as he pulled out more treats from his pocket, in the form of small individually wrapped chocolates, which he placed in the gap on the bench between where the two of them were sitting.

Nodding his head to quickly acknowledge her thanks, Daniel picked up a couple chocolates, unwrapping them before popping them contentedly into his mouth. "Like every good child, I like to indulge when my mother's not around to reprimand me for it", he lightly said

Feigning the smallest of amused smiles, Amanda found her mind orbiting around the idea of that Dark-Haired Callous lady as a mother. A mother who by connotation represented a warm, kind, loving being... someone she could never imagine that woman could ever reflect. So looking at her son with careful, searching eyes, before she could stop herself, she found she had tentatively asked, "What's she like?" wanting to get a perspective on her from someone so unfortunately close to her.

"My mother?...she's well...intense." Daniel replied slowly, trying to settle on the right word, "Back home, they call her the Queen of the Hampton's and she's earned that title. She's very concerned with appearance and airs... and having control over... pretty much everything and everyone, which gets incredibly frustrating as her first-born son. But I guess I can't fault her on it too much, because one of her redeeming qualities, is that she really loves us... her children I mean. I'm pretty sure she'd do anything for us."

"Even give up her fortune"

Daniel shrugged, pausing, "I'd like to hope she could"

"What about your father then?" Amanda asked just as intently, remembering the cold gray eyes of the man who had watched unsympathetically on her very front porch with Victoria, the very night she had gotten ripped away from her father, both literally and figuratively.

Daniel frowned slightly, he and his father always seemed to be at odds. "My father's a very powerful man...and he loves to try exert that and the responsibility of what a Grayson man must be onto myself. A Grayson man this….a Grayson man can't do that...it's so frustrating. He would never understand me writing poetry. My future's pretty well mapped out by him alone. After high school it's a couple years at Harvard Business, then it's straight to the boardroom...I wouldn't be surprised if my dad already has an office picked out for me."

"Hmm, that sounds..." Amanda began to murmur.

"I know how it sounds" Daniel gently cut in, a sad smile flitting across his face, which he tried to shake, as he asked, "What about your parents?", unknowingly darkening the mood.

Shifting her eyes away from him and back to the blank space on her sketchbook, Amanda froze feeling her body tense up as a memory she'd tried to suppress flashed through her mind.

It was from the day she and her father had first moved into the beach house. He was on the porch by the barbecue grilling burgers, and she had run up with a bucketful of soft warm sand from the beach in their very front yard, which she had dumped onto the wooden planked floor.

" _So what do you think?" Her father had asked with a big, warm smile on his face. Referring to the lovely property, he'd managed to get his hands on for him and his daughter._

 _She had smiled back, looking at him with adoring eyes, "I think mum would have loved it" she'd replied sweetly, as he walked over to where she was sitting with the bucket full of sand spread out around her._

" _Do you know how much I love you Amanda?" he'd asked earnestly placing his hands steadily on her little shoulders._

 _"Infinity" she'd uttered knowingly,_

" _Well infinity" he'd replied, smoothing down the sand in front of him so it was much like a blank canvas which he etched the familiar sign into._

" _Times infinity" he fondly added, looking down into his daughter's warm chestnut coloured eyes with infinite love before intertwining another infinity sign into the first one molded into the golden sand._

Her eyes darkening at the memory she just wanted to forget, Amanda bitterly replied, "I never really knew my mother, and my father well... he was a..."

Not being able to say aloud the words which rang so clearly in her own mind, _a true devil in disguise._ Amanda shook her head angrily, "he was just a horrible person" she muttered under her breath.

"I'm sorry" Daniel murmured tentatively, unsure of how best to respond. It's not as though he hadn't guessed the girl had a troubled life, but the anger in her eyes, the way her whole aura had just darkened when he'd asked made him wonder just how bad.

Amanda simply shrugged, his apology neither comforting nor necessary. "If you don't mind I think I'm just going to draw now" she sighed, hoping he'd catch onto the message that she didn't want to talk any longer... talking exhausted her.

Daniel nodded his head understandingly, watching as she re-opened her sketchbook and began to silently draw, her hand seeming to move almost effortlessly across the page.

Opening up his own journal and reading over his unfinished poem from the night before, he only wished the right words would come to him as easily as the strokes of her pencil seemed to come to her.

* * *

 **Hope you enjoyed Chapter 3, if you did comments are always appreciated =D**


	4. Chapter 4- One Sip

**Disclaimer: I Do Not Own Revenge, I Just Love It**

* * *

 **Chapter 4: One Sip**

Her favourite colour was blue, blue like the ocean, not like sky. She preferred dogs to cats, and boats over planes, and if she could have any superpower in the world then she'd choose invisibility, that way she could easily disappear from people or places she didn't want to be near.

Daniel hadn't learnt very much, but he'd learnt a little bit more about Amanda these past couple days even if they were only trivial things.

She didn't like to talk much, even about simple things like her favourite food for example. He'd ask her and she'd say she didn't have one, that she didn't care, or that she hadn't thought about it. But he caught the sense that it wasn't so much her not caring, but her forgetting that there were so many choices she could choose from, so he'd continually pry her till she answered.

To her though such questions about favourite things and such seemed pointless. She didn't have the luxury to pick and choose what she liked or what she wanted...and even when she did, such trivial things didn't matter when she had much heavier thoughts weighing on her mind.

She was interesting that's for sure, and when she did talk, Daniel found he'd intently listen, but mostly it was him doing the talking. They would sit there on the bench, Amanda with her sketchbook open drawing, and Daniel with his journal out as though he was ready to write.

Though he wouldn't be writing, he'd be talking. Initially he'd try to draw her into conversation, but she never cared to hold it for long. So instead he'd find himself babbling; about the Hampton's, about his younger sister, about his football games and really about just trivial stuff in general. He'd talk for a little while, and she'd listen for a little while. At least it seemed she was listening, it was hard to tell for her eyes were always focused on the sketchbook she was drawing in, though sometimes she'd murmur quick words of response, or smile fleetingly at the funny parts in his stories, sometimes she'd even ask a question of her own.

The rain had given them two extra days to know each other further, subtly paving the way for friendship as though Mother Nature was secretly rooting for them.

Daniel and his team had come on the Monday for the week long tournament, expecting the finals to be on Saturday, so that they could return home for Sunday. But due to unplayable weather conditions, both the Thursday and Friday game had been cancelled and rescheduled to the Saturday and Sunday, leaving Monday as the finals and Tuesday as their day of leaving. So while the coaches had angrily and indiscreetly cursed, the football guys grumbled before the happy realization that it meant more school to miss. Daniel had waited...waited for the late evening with the hope that the heavy rain and the lightning warning it had brought..would quell, so that he could meet with and spend more time trying to unravel his understanding of the enigma which was Emily Thorne.

Both days the weather had luckily provided him with that opportunity.

* * *

It was the Saturday now and just past eleven o'clock, they'd been on the bench for an hour or so before Daniel had somehow managed to convince Amanda into taking a walk with him. They were always staring at the lake in their view, and tonight he'd just figured, why not walk the path along it?

Naturally she'd been reluctant, but after much pleading on his count, she'd sighed heavily and grudgingly agreed following him down the path, her steps just always slightly behind his.

It was chillier than the other days, and a bit more windy too, something he quickly came to realize so close to the lake. Still it was kind of nice walking quietly along the little dirted trail; the lake to the left of them, the town to the right of them, and the moon up above. It was simple moments like these that inspired him to write, to pull out his pen, and let his fragmented thoughts flow down onto paper into something beautiful,.

"Don't you wish you could walk and easily write at the same time. That way, in moments like these I could write what I feel as I see it, instead of having to hold on to all those loose thoughts till I sit down and open my poetry journal." Daniel muttered absentmindedly.

"Not really" Amanda replied dismissively, not quite understanding his sentiment. She wasn't a writer...not like him. In fact she hated writing, she'd tried it before..not poetry but writing in a diary. She'd heard it was a good coping mechanism, a less destructive way to cope with the bitter, angry feelings she'd been plagued with. That was all bullshit though, writing hadn't helped, writing had just made her even angrier; having to think about it, having to pinpoint her emotions and recall bitter experiences, just to have what? Living physical proof of her hardships and pain, how useless.

Noticing his slight frown though, she sighed and muttered, "I mean we can sit down at that tree over there, if you really want to write". It's not as though she had a home to get back to...or a family anxiously waiting to hear her slip in safely through the door.

"It's fine, I'd probably just lose all those thoughts anyway and find myself filling the silence with my voice, which I'm sure you've heard too much of by now" he joked lightly.

Although his guise these past few days, had been that he wanted the bench to write...in reality, he'd just wanted the bench because he'd found Amanda interesting and wanted to talk to her. There was just something different about her… she felt so strikingly real...so raw, even if there was such an unfortunate aura of sadness surrounding her. It was something he didn't see in the Hampton's. At home, everyone was so easy to figure out, they had two layers….who they pretended to be and who they really were….usually neither layer was of too much interest, or too hard to figure out. But her...Emily she was different somehow, she was multi-faceted and he found himself drawn to her, like he would be to an intricate puzzle in need of solving. He found himself liking her too...for all her sharp glares, and little jabs, her rolling of the eyes, and exasperated sighs...he found an unexplainable sense of friendship towards her...and even a little sense of comfort.

Around her he could be himself, not the wealthy Grayson plagued with unwanted expectations, nor the popular jock who was put on a pedestal with far more attention then he wanted. No with her he was simply Daniel, a 16 year old guy, who held so much more essence and substance, than he was ever really given credit for.

"You're a distraction, you know that" he teased, wanting to make her smile, if even just a little. She didn't smile very much and something told him that didn't really change when he wasn't around. So when he was, he felt a sense of accomplishment seeing her lips curl up into one. "I never get any writing done with you" he added.

That suited him fine though, writing was something he did best in solitude, just him and his thoughts alone anyway.

Amanda rolled her eyes, "And whose fault is that I agreed to let you share the bench with me, not tell me your whole life story". she muttered, recalling all the things he'd talked about.

Surprisingly though, she hadn't actually minded, he had such a warm, smooth sounding voice, especially when he talked about things he liked, and as much as she denied it, it was kind of nice that she could just listen to his voice, and know she wasn't so alone as she drew by the sound of it. All without having to compromise her own sense of comfort by conversing back with him and holding conversation.

She liked when he talked about his little sister, Charlotte the most. It was sweet hearing the stories he told about her, and hearing just how much he seemed to care for her by the way he spoke of her. It almost made her wish she had a sister, someone she was bonded to...someone she could laugh with and take comfort in….someone she could trust. Thinking about it though, it was for the best that her father had only one child. If he'd had another and she'd had a sister or a brother, although they would have had each other to take comfort in, they still would have been exposed to the same pain and misfortune she was even now still struggling with….and that was just too cruel. She wouldn't wish that on anyone, except for the people that had put her through it themselves, let alone her very own flesh and blood…..she wasn't that selfish.

Daniel only chuckled, "Come on, I keep you well compensated with the treats, I've been sharing with you", he murmured, referring to the little candies and chocolates they'd been sharing on the bench.

Amanda shrugged, "I guess" she admitted tentatively, "but….", her voice faltering, she paused and Daniel observingly noticed the way her composure changed, as though she was further trying to pad her well-guarded walls.

On instinct...she probably was.

 _But...why?_ She wanted to ask, struggling in frustration with the thought in her head. She just didn't understand, why her? Why purposely choose to bother with her and show each night? She wasn't the girl that people wanted to interact with, she was the girl who people found conveniently easier to ignore. That's how she lived and that's how she liked it.

But he had to be different, he had to try and interact with her and she wanted to know why, why the hell he had try and compromise her sense of isolation. She'd given him no reason to believe that she wanted his company, it's not as though she was friendly, or warm...or engaging.

Not like him...not like he was, not that she'd admit that aloud. If she did than it might sound like she actually liked him, which she couldn't. She was simply putting up with him, that's all. His caring disposition, his warm smiles, and chuckles, his easy going chatter. It did nothing for her but pass the time.

Shaking her head, Amanda quickly muttered, "Nevermind", staring squarely back at him as she felt his scrutinizing gaze upon her. "What?" she quipped, daring him to question her further.

He didn't, Daniel just shook his head himself dismissing what he wanted to say, as he braced himself for the cool gust of wind he felt coming his way. She was probably cold too, especially being in only a thin sweater.

"Here" he murmured, his voice full of kindness and sincerity, as he shrugged off his jacket and handed it to Amanda, "You're probably freezing", and being the gentlemen he was, he just couldn't allow that.

Amanda looked at him her eyes widened in a mixture of both confusion and surprise, as she shook her head on impulse in her almost instinctive defiance. He was right she was cold, by now there were probably little goosebumps underneath the thin cheap fabric of her sweater. Still she couldn't just accept his jacket, like the girls he probably had fawning over him back home would happily do...and she didn't want to.

What did he expect? How stupid...she'd braced way more than the cold by herself before with no jacket...no protection at all. So she especially didn't need his help now, nor his kindness and sympathy "I'm fine" she scoffed, like his offer was silly.

"Sure" Daniel muttered disbelievingly, his face scrunching up into a frown, as he took her by surprise by very quickly grabbing onto her hand wanting to feel her temperature for himself. Her hand was soft and smooth, and felt surprisingly small in his hands. It was also cold, freezing cold, just as he'd guessed.

Immediately snatching her hand away, her stomach twisting up uncomfortably from the confusion of his hand touching hers, Amanda glared at him icily, "What are you doing?" she snapped.

"Your hands, I knew you were cold" Daniel replied candidly, his voice slightly apologetic, for the impulsive action he'd used to prove his point. "You know it wouldn't kill you to accept my kindness" he promptly added, pushing his jacket towards her once more, in the hopes that she would accept it.

She didn't.

Amanda rolled her eyes, feeling infuriated by both his previous action of hand to hand contact and by his irritating choice of words. What the hell did he know?

She'd been pretty accepting of Daniel and his actions In a few days she'd let him into more of herself than she had let anyone else in the past few years. Not that anyone else had tried...but still, the fact remained.

It hadn't been her intention, she'd been careful from the start, at least she'd tried to be. Her only losing point, being his last name which had caught her off guard. Grayson…..Daniel Grayson, she'd been too curious, wanting to know what the offspring of the callous dark haired lady, and the cold grey-eyed man was like. So she had bargained a little bit of herself for her to know a little bit about himself. It was an action she was now wondering if she'd regret.

Opening her mouth ready to send a sharp remark back, she stopped when she felt a heavy, fat drop of rain, splash against her cheek. Great...just great it was about to start pouring.

"Would you like the jacket now" he quipped, his patience thinning at her stubbornness as he thrust the jacket at her only to have her thrust it back. Sighing frustratedly as five more drops of rain landed on him, he began to speedily walk in the direction of the small diner he saw up ahead. "Come on" he muttered, breaking into a run, when the rain began to start steadily pouring.

Swinging open the door, Amanda close on his heels, Daniel quickly stepped inside scanning the old fashioned 50's styled room, with it's vintage posters, famous Elvis Presley records plastered against the walls and black and white checkered floors, before heading straight towards one of the small booths in the back.

Patting down his sweater and pants to see how much rain had soaked them, he sighed heavily, and plopped down on the cheap red vinyl booth . He was damp, uncomfortably damp, which irritated him, almost as much as Amanda's attitude.

Reluctantly sitting down opposite him, Amanda sighed heavily herself, ignoring Daniel completely as she took off her small backpack, and opened it up, checking to that see her sketchbook hadn't caught any rain...luckily it hadn't.

"I was just trying to be kind" Daniel said tensely, a frown on his face as he filled the rather awkward silence.

"I never asked you to be" she muttered back indifferently.

"That's the point, you're not supposed to have to ask for kindness…". It frustrated him that she didn't understand that. That she refused to recognize that some people weren't all bad.

Amanda just shook her head opposedly, too tired to bother refuting in words. That might be his rule, but her rule was that you weren't suppose to easily accept kindness, especially too much from one person. That just led to false ideas, false hope, and ultimately more pain.

"I don't know why you have to be so difficult" Daniel snapped, his eyes flickering to hers as she glared dangerously back at him, warning him not to say anymore,"It's like you purposefully try and push people away before they can even get close to you. Do you honestly believe that's the way to live?"

"It's the only way to live" Amanda spat back angrily, trying not to expose the pain and sadness his words had harshly jolted her back into feeling. If she was _kind_ , if she was _trusting,_ then she never would have survived. She would have been trampled on over and over and over again, until she was simply reduced to dust. It wasn't as though she had asked for this...she hadn't decided at five that she was going to be _difficult_ all her life _._

No, but life...the circumstances she'd been hit with had forced her into that lonely pit. "I wouldn't expect you to understand though, Grayson" she jabbed, emphasizing his surname with the true animosity she felt surrounding it. "Having been pampered and sheltered and spoiled all your life, as if you know a damn thing about how the real world works".

"You're probably right" Daniel replied slowly, hating how dirty and how ignorant she made him sound by the cynicism heard so evidently in her voice. "But being wealthy, and being surrounded by these people with such huge fortunes, who should be the happiest of all. I've come to realize more than anyone else...that nothing, not even millions of dollars can guarantee your happiness as well as having someone you can rely on, and trust...and you can't get that by isolating yourself from everyone that comes your way."

"Then I guess I'm just a lost cause" Amanda muttered bitterly, having lost the will to angrily raise her voice.

"You don't have to be" he murmured, swallowing the last of his lingering sense of frustration towards her in the pain he heard so clearly in her voice and saw exposed through her jaded brown eyes.

"Stop talking as though you know me" she snapped, shaking her head as she looked at him, "because you don't know a thing".

"Look I'm sorry" he began to utter, his voice both firm and gentle as he tried to find the right words to speak, "You're right, I don't know a thing, I haven't lived through your life but even someone as ignorant as me can see that it must have been painful...so I'm sorry, alright. I'm sorry that life gave you such a shitty hand."

Swallowing the lump in her throat, trying to keep her voice steady...hard sounding, harsh. Amanda shook her head slowly, her eyes focused down to avoid his gaze so that he couldn't see the moisture accumulating in the corner of her eyes.. This was the first time anyone had ever apologized to her for her ill-fated life, and as much as she'd like to think his words meant nothing...the moisture in her eyes proved otherwise

"Just leave me alone Daniel" she muttered her words lacking much less bite than usual, as she stood up hastily from her seat on the bench needing to escape, before he unlocked more vulnerability within her. A thought which made her stomach twist up uncomfortably, like it did when she thought about him and his actions. She couldn't trust him….she didn't want to, they'd only known each other for a few days. He shouldn't actually care...it only made her uneasy.

"Why, what are you so afraid of?" he challenged.

Shaking her head, still avoiding his eye contact, Amanda ignored him, her back facing him as she quickly walked away, finding a free spot, a good many booths away from him on the other side of the diner.

 _Afraid...she wasn't afraid._

 _Not anymore at least, she wasn't that weak little girl who had first entered the foster care system, at the loss of her father. The girl who had cried herself to sleep, choking on her own tears. The girl who had learnt to fear the darkness, she had never before batted an eye at. The girl who had feared peoples angry glares, and harmful whispers as though they could metamorphose into something physical and stab her skin to make her bleed._

 _No, she wasn't afraid anymore because she'd put up guards. She'd learnt to be cautious...cynical. She'd learnt that people couldn't be trusted, that everybody had ulterior motives and darkness in their hearts, that the world wasn't a safe place. She'd learnt that there was no hero of justice, no one to save her, and that if you wished upon a star, the wish would die out and disintegrate before ever reaching it._

 _But most of all she'd learnt that she was disgustingly helpless...and that she needed to harden herself, her mind, her soul. She needed to fortify the walls around her, and mirror a tough facade till her reflection showed true. She needed to compartmentalize her thoughts from her real emotions and keep people at a distance. She needed to be safe no matter the cost_

 _Bond...friendship, such words were nice sentiments she supposed but unrealistic at best, at least for her. She couldn't be a friend to anybody, so it didn't matter, not one bit. She was alone and for the better too._

Shoving in her earphones, attached to the cracked ipod in her bag. Amanda rested her head tiredly against the table, her arms cocooning around her head to provide some sort of cushioning, as she closed her eyes, welcoming the darkness which she'd grown to find an eerie sense of comfort in. At least darkness and all the feelings it encircled was familiar to her.

* * *

He didn't understand, didn't know what to think, he'd never had to deal with someone like her before...someone so tough yet so caged. Maybe she was just a lost cause after all. If she'd dimmed out her hope, was there even any point of him holding some of his own, of trying? He didn't really know.

They had only talked, spent a couple hours in each other's presence each night for a few days now….but did that make them friends or just friendly strangers? What equated to friendship anyway? And if he felt even the tiniest bit like hers, should he get up and try to talk to her or just leave her alone? Like she'd so clearly stated.

He didn't know….and he didn't like it, not one bit.

On one hand, he understood personal space, and wanting to be alone, to hide your tears, but he also recognized how debilitating that could be…...and in Emily's case he just knew, it was only hurting her.

…

…

…

…

…

"Here" Daniel murmured, a small while later, placing a large white mug filled to the brim with steaming hot chocolate, bobbing with fluffy white marshmallows in front of her. He couldn't just leave her alone, not when she looked so pained.

"It will warm you up" he added gently, sliding in casually on the opposite side of the booth with his own mug of hot chocolate in front of himself.

Her eyes flickering tiredly between Daniel, the hot drink and the rainy atmosphere outside the window. Amanda swallowed down the small lump in her throat, not daring to look back at him for fear his genuineness might entrap her. What made him think she wanted more of his kindness anyway, had she not just spat on all his other attempts. "I told you to leave me alone" she muttered.

"I know" Daniel replied steadily, "I'm just wanting to know for what reason, that's all. I won't bother you again if I can accept the reason."

"There's no good reason" she responded harshly, frowning at him, no good reason he would understand at least, not when he so foolishly believed love could make the world go round, or some stupid, naive nonsense like that. "I just don't particularly like you".

"Ouch" Daniel murmured, half-believing her, half-not, when her eyes were like that...so vacant looking he didn't know what to think. Still, she seemed like the type of girl who could cut you off at a second if she really really wanted to. Someone who could make you want to run if you got on her bad side...and yet she hadn't caused him to run. She'd maybe tried, but not with the full extent of her cutting tendencies or surely he would have felt a much more malicious vibe from her.

She hadn't been particularly warm or friendly towards him either, but that didn't really seem like her nature. So surely if she'd truly disliked him, she would have _made_ sure he'd found no reason to want to turn up to that bench again...and yet she hadn't. "Somehow I just don't quite believe that though" he replied, much to her frustration. Instead he believed that she was afraid...afraid to get close to anyone

Scoffing at his response, Amanda shook her head, feeling agitated by his words. He was right she didn't dislike him, not really, she just didn't want to deal with him any longer, he frustrated her; his warmth, his kindness, his naive attitude, they grated on her mind...and she was beginning to really feel it now, and it was beginning to hurt.

"What the hell do you want from me Daniel?" she muttered bitterly , breaking her jaded gaze from him, as she looked down at her mug of hot chocolate, the one he'd kindly bought for her, the one she was letting get cold.

"Nothing...I just…"

"Just what?" she bit back

"One sip" he said firmly, finding his voice, as he gestured towards the hot chocolate in front of her, "One sip and I'll leave you alone"... for tonight at least he thought in his head.

Looking at him suspiciously unsure of what he was trying to get at, Amanda shook her head in confusion, before begrudgingly agreeing. "Whatever" she muttered, slowly picking up the mug in her hands. It was still hot, the steam had dissipated, but she could feel the warmth of the liquid, through the mug as she brought it up to her lips and took a sip.

The hot chocolate tasted good, really good, sweet on her tongue and warm in her stomach, it left an almost nostalgic feeling even. Hot chocolate had been her favourite hot drink for the wintertime as a child. Snuggled up on the couch, with Sammy in her arms, and a mug of hot chocolate in her hands, as with sleepy eyes she watched the luminous flames in the fireplace flickering playfully, twisting and turning into shapes and images she imagined. It was kind of like cloud watching, you saw the indistinct shapes as what you wanted them to be; a dancing lady, a roaring lion, a kite in the sky.

She'd always loved that, mesmerized by the deep orange flames in their fireplace, working so hard to heat the house from the cold outside, and from the steady flow of snowflakes falling from the sky, blanketing down softly over the Hampton's, providing her with a new environment to gleefully play in the next day.

She hadn't thought about it as a child, those two extremes; the scorching, furious heat of fire, and the numbing, freezing chill of ice. As a child, she'd just found a way to amuse herself with both of them, but as she was now, she felt them more than anything, both the burn and the chill of those two very dangerous elements.

"Happy?" she muttered sarcastically.

Daniel slowly nodded his head, standing up from the booth as promised, "Did it warm you up?" he questioned, just before walking away, his deep brown eyes having stared observantly at her, waiting for her answer.

She hadn't replied though, hadn't said a thing, just pursed her lips and watched him as he walked away, waiting till he was clearly out of sight, before bringing the damned hot chocolate up to her lips once more.

This was why she didn't like him, he got underneath her damn skin.

* * *

 **I know it's been a while, but I'm finally back with a new chapter, hope you all enjoyed it =D. I'm glad some interest has been taken in this story, and thanks so much for the lovely comments I've been seeing.**


	5. Chapter 5- Friend

**Disclaimer: I Do Not Own Revenge, I Just Love It**

* * *

 **A/N so I know it's been a really long time, I'm sorry :/, but I hope you guys are still just excited about reading this, as I was writing it =D**

 **I don't know if any of you like listening to music when you read, but if you're interested my song inspiration for this chapter was called, Rising, Rising by Crywolf, which I recommend.**

 **Anyway enjoy,**

 **Chapter 5: Friend**

Daniel had just wanted to say goodbye.

It wasn't as though he and Emily were great friends or anything, they were somewhere weird on the continuum between friendly strangers and friends. But he did care about her and he'd always caught the sense that she was alone, that she didn't really have anybody, and that saddened him. If he had lived here then he certainly would have wanted to be that someone for her, but he didn't and he wasn't naive enough to believe that when he left they would still remain in touch. She barely spoke to him when he was sitting right next to her on the bench, let alone hundreds of miles away.

He doubted she'd bring it up on his last night here in Connecticut though, doubted she'd say anything other than a simple goodbye. Maybe that's just what he had do too… a simple goodbye, a kind smile… and his number; he'd write it down on a piece of paper and give it to her. _If you ever want to talk or something_ , he'd say, _call me_. He doubted she would, doubted he'd ever hear from her once he left, but at least by giving her his number, he left it open… open for her to decide.

With his journal in his left hand, and a paper plate with a piece of his team's celebratory cake for her in his right hand, Daniel made his way to the bench one last time. Only for his previous thoughts to be wasted.

Only for her to not even appear.

* * *

 **2 days earlier**

It was another cold night as Amanda wandered towards the bench, sketchbook in tow. Tonight she'd come prepared with a jacket around her shoulders, though it was so thin and worn-out that she probably shouldn't have even bothered, it did little to protect her against the windchill. Still it was a jacket, and if she had one on, then she'd rationalized that Daniel would not offer her his own again, if he even decided to show.

After they'd gotten into an argument yesterday night, he had promised to leave her alone.

" _One sip_ " he had said " _One sip and I'll leave you alone_ ", since that's what she had wanted, well what she had asked for. In truth she didn't know what she wanted...she just didn't want to hurt anymore.

Shivering slightly as she tried to get comfortable on the rigid bench, Amanda looked up to the sky, her eyes fixating on a tiny little star, her star, which she could actually see tonight. Often times it got hidden behind the dark clouds or the suburban lights. It certainly wasn't the brightest nor the biggest, it was small and probably always overlooked… but that's why she liked it, because it seemed like the star was just holding on, desperately trying to keep a grasp of itself… sentiment which she identified with.

A smooth warm voice, snapping her out of her thoughts, with a kind hello, Amanda looked up to see Daniel Grayson sitting down beside her.

It almost made her wanted to laugh bitterly, even in the darkness of the night, even when he wasn't even trying too, he still so blatantly embodied everything that she hated; a Grayson, wealth, happiness, ignorance and kindness. Kindness being the one infuriating trait of his, that she probably hated the most, because despite her best efforts, both to distance herself and to repel him away from her, his kindness seemed to nullify all attempts, and worse had surprisingly made him into at least somewhat of a… maybe welcome sight.

"You promised you'd leave me alone" Amanda muttered pointedly, looking up at him with sharp eyes...or at least trying to. "For the night" Daniel sighed, breaking her gaze, as he looked up towards the sky, "I didn't mean to upset you, Emily" he added sincerely, remembering that pained expression deep behind her brown eyes, he'd unintentionally exposed.

"You didn't upset me" she snapped back defensively, her voice low as to not sound as agitated by his comment as she felt. "Then anger you" he appeased, somehow knowing that anger was probably something she could admit to more than sadness.

Shifting her eyes away from Daniel's, Amanda picked up her sketchbook and pencil, as cue to him that she was going to draw. "If you just came here to talk then go away, I'm not up for it", she muttered, as though they'd even really talked at all.

"Then let's not talk" he murmured back, side glancing at her as she'd begun to draw.

He couldn't say that she looked at peace while drawing, but he could say that she looked the most at ease. It was a nice sight in a way, or at least it would have been if it wasn't for the sad aura that clung to her turning the image bittersweet.

Picking up his own journal, his fingers tapping gently on the bench, as he tried to metamorphose his thoughts into words. Daniel flipped to his half written poem from the night before, an idea floating into his head that he decided to work with.

…

…

…

"I'll show you mine, if you show me yours" Daniel questioned playfully, a good while later, snapping Amanda out of her quiet bubble, as he held up his journal, and looked towards her sketchbook.

"No way" Amanda replied, promptly shutting him down, knowing exactly what it was he was referencing too, "My drawings are private… I don't show them to anyone."

Knowing better than to press, Daniel nodded his head slowly, doubting she was one to yield anyway. "Fine, I'll still show you mine though" he replied, as though he was doing her a favour. Chuckling lightly, as her eyebrows furrowed into a frown, so clearly reading, _I don't want it,_ he then playfully muttered, "Come on, you can't tell me, that you're not even the least bit interested in whether I'm any good."

Amanda rolled her eyes, despite his words ringing slightly true, "Even if I was, reading it wouldn't help, I doubt I know the difference between shit poetry and good poetry anyway".

Daniel laughed, as he ripped out the last page of his journal with the poem written on it, folding it four times so that it would have to be opened to be read. "Trust me you'll know, good poetry is like good art, it's something you can connect to" he assured her, holding out the paper for her to take.

Amanda hesitated, sighed and then tentatively took it anyway, as Daniel closed his journal and stood up from the bench, "You can tell me what you think tomorrow" he quickly said, not wanting her to read it in front of him, " it's late, so we should probably get going."

Amanda nodded her head in agreeance, standing up herself and sliding it in her pocket. "Fine" she muttered, "but if I don't like it, I'm telling you, and it's your own fault for giving it to me".

"Fair enough", Daniel replied lightly, "but I'd hope you wouldn't be too harsh on my last night here" he subtly added, wanting to remind her that he was leaving.

"Oh yeah" Amanda whispered, masking her feelings well, whatever they were, even she couldn't quite decide. It would certainly be easier once he was gone, no more confusing feelings or confusing thoughts, it'd be back to normal which she could navigate through, instead of the unknown terrain he had her trudging through. But easier was not always better, and her normal was not ever nice…and plus she couldn't deny that the thought of having the bench all to herself again made her feel a little bit more lonely than she already was on the inside. Still despite those feelings she couldn't help but mutter, "It'll be nice to have the bench back again".

"I'm sure" he replied with a smile, which she weakly returned before turning around in the direction she was going in.

Stopping shortly, as if remembering something she forgot, Amanda slowly turned around again and looked back at him, "And Daniel" she muttered, just loud enough to garner his attention, as he turned back to look at her. "Good luck with your match against the reigning champions tomorrow" she finished, her voice having seemed to get quieter the wider the grin on his face had grown.

Still it had made him happy, too happy in her opinion, it almost made her want to take her words back.

She hadn't said them because she really cared about his game. She'd just figured that after all the kindness Daniel had shown her over the past few days, she should at least once reciprocate a little kindness back to him before he left. Though in a sense that was her caring.

"Thanks, I'll bring you some of our celebratory cake tomorrow" Daniel promised, grateful for her words, and happy that they confirmed that she had been listening all those times he'd rambled about his football matches after all. Nodding her head twice in reply, Daniel's seemingly contagious grin, caused even Amanda's lips to curl up into the tiniest of smiles. Though she tried to hide it, as she turned, and quickly walked away, hearing his voice echo goodbye in the near distance.

She didn't say it back though, she'd already shown him her one act of kindness.

* * *

Daniel probably should have just left it at that, left her without a goodbye, anyone else probably would have. If she had wanted to, then she would have shown, and if she couldn't have, if something had come up, then that was just life...and life moved on. It certainly didn't wait around for one-week friends, if that's what she was.

But he didn't leave it at that, instead the next day, the day he was supposed to be leaving home for the Hampton's. Daniel had gotten up early in the morning, gotten dressed and left the hotel with her on his mind, hoping he could find her within just a few hours.

His wish came true.

He'd found her by the lake, along the path they'd briefly walked through, the night they'd gotten into that fight. She was sitting down on the grass, her back against the largest tree. She wasn't drawing at the moment, just looking out sadly towards the lake, her earphones plugged in, as though she didn't want to be bothered by the world.

He couldn't allow her that luxury though as he slowly approached, calling her name to get her attention. She didn't hear the first time, so he called again and then again, watching as she turned her head in surprise, unplugged her earphones, and then very reluctantly stood up to face him.

He spoke first, his smile having instantly faded upon walking closer to her,"What happened?" he asked in horror, not wanting to, but not being able to ignore the painful looking bruise on the left side of her face, just underneath her left eye. He was no expert on bruises, but he'd had his fair share from football practice, so he could tell that it was past the swelling phase now, it having left a purple discolored mark across her cheek, "Are you okay" he pressed, his face creased in instant concern. Concern Amanda wasn't used to as she brushed it off completely, ignoring his question altogether, and taking a step away from him, as though she was afraid he was going to pull her closer to him.

"What are you doing here Daniel" she asked bluntly. If she was happy to see him, then he certainly couldn't tell. "Shouldn't you be halfway home to the Hampton's by now?"

"I wanted to say goodbye." he replied in honesty, his words sounding sillier when said out loud, he could tell by Emily's face that she certainly thought so. "I waited for you at the bench yesterday, though I guess it makes sense why you didn't show." he added quietly, the sympathy in his eyes as he stared at her face, causing her to avert her eyes. That's why she hadn't gone to the bench to say goodbye. Not because she had the bruise but because she hadn't wanted him to see her with it. She knew he'd make a fuss, knew he'd look at her with those naive and sympathetic eyes she hated most.

"Well goodbye then Daniel" she muttered aloofly, turning her back to him and quickly walking away. She just wasn't in the mood today…she didn't feel like playing nice…and even if she was, she'd still only end it with a simple goodbye anyway.

"Wait" Daniel called after her, his longer legs catching up to her quickly, and much to Amanda's irritation, keeping pace. He didn't know what he wanted, or what he had expected upon finding her, but he certainly hadn't wasted all his time searching for her, for her to walk away. "Who did this to you, Emily?", he asked in concern.

"What the hell does it matter" she replied, shaking her head in contempt, tempted to leave it at that, but knowing by the firm look in his eyes that he wouldn't allow her to, "I told a bunch of people to fuck off at school, they didn't like it".

"I don't believe you" Daniel said stiffly, his sympathetic eyes only seeming to antagonize Amanda further.

"What? You think, I'm too good to get into school fights?" she asked mockingly.

"On the contrary" he retorted, "but I think if you'd gotten into a school fight then you would have won"

"It was three against one".

"Or man against teenage girl" Daniel said seriously, causing her to abruptly stop and freeze, her face having hardened into a cold glower, no doubt to mask the pain behind her chestnut colored eyes.

"What are you talking about?" she said defensively, the sharpened tone to her voice, warning him to stop.

He didn't.

"I went to your house earlier" he said slowly, watching as her eyes widened in an angered surprise. "I met your foster father, I'm assuming... he looked mean, vile, I could practically smell the alcohol off his breath".

He was a gruff looking man, broad, medium height and a little on the heavy side. He looked like the type of man, you'd see drunk at a bar, grumbling about his football team's loss and picking fights with anyone who bothered him. He certainly didn't look like the type of man a teenage girl should be living with.

"and he certainly didn't seem to care for you much, didn't have any kind words to say," Daniel added quietly, watching as her face had begun to pale.

" _What are you to her?" the man had asked snidely, " A girl like her certainly doesn't have any friends, let alone someone who cares enough to come to her house."_

" _A girl like what?" Daniel challenged defensively, bristling at the nasty comment and aura coming off the boorish man._

 _He only laughed harshly, "You don't even know" he said tauntingly, "she lied to you about her name… poor girl, she should know she can't hide her past, she's the devil's daughter after all"._

You went to my house" Amanda asked in disbelief, clearly incensed; her voice raised harshly just short of yelling, "I never even told you where I lived".

"I followed you home Thursday night" Daniel admitted, quickly trying to explain, "You didn't notice but there was a suspicious looking man hiding behind the trees around where we were, I didn't know if he was dangerous or just drunk and high or something….but I knew that you wouldn't let me walk you home, even if I told you. So just in case anything were to happen, I decided to trail behind you on your walk home. You were plugged in, didn't even realize."

Amanda shook her head in anger, his justification meaning nothing to her at the moment but that he'd overstepped, "I don't need your help, I can take care of myself" she sneered.

"Yeah, sure looks like it", Daniel countered, his words sounding much harsher than he'd intended, as his eyes landed on her bruise once again.

"Go home" she snarled, her emotions mixed at the sting she'd felt from his words, unsure of whether she felt more angry or hurt by his comment. "A spoilt Grayson like you, wouldn't understand a thing", she added, shoving past him, as she begun to walk away.

"I don't care" Daniel said angrily, catching up to her once again, "If he's hurting you, then you shouldn't have to live with that, you should tell someone".

"Tell who?" Amanda snapped.

"I don't know… the police, the foster system" his voice trailed off as she began to bitterly laugh, "How naive".

"I don't understand, you have proof, you have the bruise"

"It's still his word against mine, and that bruise could have come from anywhere… they wouldn't do a thing".

"Isn't that what they're here for... to help?" Daniel persisted.

"Maybe the privileged, the pure, the innocent like you… but they don't give a damn about me".

"Why, what have you really done?" Daniel questioned.

"Haven't you heard?" Amanda asked, pausing for effect as she took in a sharp breath, her eyes dancing angrily with fire, "I'm the devil's daughter, I'm…".

…

…

…

"Amanda Clarke", Daniel finished for her in a quiet exhale, watching as her eyes widened in painful surprise and she fell silent.

He had found out this morning from her nasty foster father, who had built up to it; a spiteful grin on his face as he'd let out the truth, clearly wanting the secret to repel Daniel away from her.

He could tell by her foster father's face, that he hadn't hidden his shock well, it probably being mistaken as horror, which no doubt the man had cruelly wanted to see. But Daniel wasn't horrified, just shocked which was only understandable, anyone would be, let alone someone whose family had been so heavily involved in the David Clarke case. But thinking about it now...her closed off attitude, her aura, her anger, her mistrust it all made sense; perfect sense after what he was sure she'd sadly endured.

"But that doesn't make you the devil".

His words catching her by surprise, Amanda instantly dropped her gaze to the floor. Feeling tears begin to well up slowly in her eyes. She wasn't usually one for theatrics, but she'd wanted to see the shock on Daniel's face, wanted him to instantly pull away as though he could catch whatever nastiness was in her blood. She supposed she'd just wanted the satisfaction of knowing that he was no different from anyone else. She should have known that she wouldn't get what she wanted...she never did.

"It doesn't even matter" Amanda muttered painfully, the lump in her throat, causing her voice to sound wobbly, "the world isn't a fair place… we don't all get a fair chance."

"I'm sorry" Daniel uttered in reflex, a sickening feeling beginning to swell up in his stomach, as he heard his father's apathetic voice in his mind, " _The world is made up of Gods and insects, Son… don't concern yourself with insects"._ It still haunted him, his father's words, his father's screwed up philosophy.

He didn't want to live like that, never had and so he'd always feigned naivety to avoid such thoughts. He knew some people had it better or worse, he knew the scales were tipped unevenly. He knew, but still chose to believe that everybody had the chance to reach where they wanted if they just tried… if they just worked hard enough… if they just this...or just that. That way, ignoring how unfairly skewed it really was, it was much easier to stomach his own privileges.

" _I can see that"_ Amanda had once said, _"that you're actually a good person"._

He'd always liked to think so, but how good was a person who chose to live in ignorance for his own selfish reasons anyway?  
Probably not as good as he imagined.

Trying to wipe away the few stray tears that had slipped down her face, Amanda finally shifted her eyes back up towards Daniel. He was quietly seething, this being his first real time seeing just how obstructed the scales really were up close. "Go home Daniel" she whispered, too tired to even call him out on being so naive, "at least you have one. I'll be fine, in just two more years I'll be out the system anyway".

Daniel shook his head, not willing to accept that, "So what, you're just gonna let him hit you for two more years… that's fucked up" he muttered angrily.

"Yeah well it's my life not yours" she snapped, "and even if I could get moved to another home, there's no guarantee it would be better, there's worse things than getting knocked around a couple times a month".

"Like what" Daniel challenged, clearly not thinking. She didn't reply though, only looked down in response, remaining quiet; not wanting to say anything out loud, and he was thankful she didn't. He probably wouldn't have been able to stomach it…the stories she'd heard over the years.

…

…

…

"I'm going to help you" Daniel whispered, his voice interrupting the silence that had grown between them in his previous words. He didn't know how, but he knew that he wasn't letting her go back to that house. "I promise".

"What?" Amanda breathed shallowly, sighing in contempt, she didn't believe in being saved, and least of all she didn't believe in promises, she'd heard too many over the years.

" _You can trust me"_

" _I'm going to help you"_

" _This family won't hurt you"_

" _We'll run away, It'll be okay"_

" _We won't lose contact, I promise"_

" _I love you Amanda, Infinity times Infinity"_

All cheap lies, and shattered promises, which just eventually disintegrated to dust and left her even more broken.

"I'm going to help you" Daniel repeated, this time sounding more certain, more resolute. If she'd looked into his eyes, then surely she would have seen that too, but by his first words she'd already begun to pull away not willing to open herself up to yet another broken promise.

"You don't even know me" Amanda whispered under her breath, as she began to walk away for the third time that day. Daniel refused to allow her though, refused to allow her to take another step away, as he reached for her, his right hand latching onto her left, cementing her in place, despite her stubborn struggle for him to let go.

"Maybe not…" Daniel whispered back, giving her hand a gentle, reassuring squeeze, as Amanda finally stopped struggling long enough to feel the warmth of his hand, and the way he held on to hers firmly but never forcibly, "but I know that I'm your friend."

* * *

 **So I hope you all enjoyed this chapter, a little spoiler, but in the next chapter, Amanda will be back in the Hampton's, and yes, you'll see her reunite with Jack, which is super exciting, so all those Jemily fans, just hold on, the next chapter is where it begins for you guys ;)**

 **Also speaking of Jemily, I'm currently working on a collab story with starfiction123, called Sensei, A Little Help? which is a sequel, with a twist to her first story Admist The Two Graves. It's mostly her doing all the hard work, I'm just helping out a little with the sequel, but I highly recommend both of them, she's an absolutely brilliant writer and her stories are super entertaining and sweet.**


	6. Chapter 6- Deal With The Devil

**Disclaimer: I Do Not Own Revenge, I Just Love It**

* * *

 **A/N**

 **I'm finally back with a new chapter... I hope some of you are still interested in this story. I know it's been forever (and even that's an understatement), so I'm really sorry about that, I will try to do much better in future. On a good note though, I made this chapter extra long to try and make up for it, so hopefully you'll enjoy reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it.**

 **A shout-out to Starfiction123, she kept encouraging and motivating me to hurry up and write this chapter, so without her I probably would have taken even longer. On that note, she's a super amazing writer and has some really awesome stories if you're interested. We're actually collaborating on one of hers called "Sensei, A Little Help?" (though she's doing the majority of the hard work).**

 **I would check it out, it's got a nice revenge-type feel to it xD... and to any of those reading "Now I Am Haunted", it's not abandoned, I have most of it written and will try to update as soon as possible.**

 **Anyway, here's chapter six, hope you enjoy.**

* * *

 **Chapter 6: Deal With The Devil**

Amanda sat up in bed with tired brown eyes as she nervously scanned her surroundings. She was in a spacious room with everything color coordinated in light tones against the soft cream cream colored walls, and not a speck out of place. Beside her there was a vase of flowers on her bedside table, and against the back and adjacent wall, two elegant paintings in golden frames. It was too much, the sophisticated styled room, with even it's fresh scent carrying the opulent stench of the rich. She was within no doubt in the home of the Grayson's… and as that thought swept through her mind, reminding her of the events which had ultimately led her back _here…_ Amanda let out a startled breath, as with shaky limbs she climbed out of the plush bed, thankful at least that she remained in her own ratty clothes, and not the soft cashmere pajamas she saw neatly folded at the foot of her bed.

Walking into the private bathroom, conveniently attached to the guest room, Amanda sat down on the edge of the bathtub, wondering why she felt the urge to cry. She was safe now, Daniel's promise had proved to be more than just comforting words, and yet she still felt in danger... not imminent danger... subtle, quiet, the type of danger that crept up one, like it had her two-faced father.

She was being paranoid, that she knew, but she didn't trust Victoria Grayson, and seeing her yesterday, in flesh, up close; cold dark eyes to her own resentful ones had only intensified all the feelings she had been trying to get past, and all the painful memories of her father.

* * *

 **24 hours ago**

It was just before noon in Connecticut, though the sun still clung back behind the cloudy skies, as Amanda and Daniel slowly walked along the lakeshore trail, her steps always a few paces ahead, while he hung behind, his eyes glued to her back as though it held the answers to her locked off mind.

Daniel wished he could tell what Amanda was thinking, but her mind was as closed off as the sketching book she carried but refused to show him. Still he couldn't deny he felt a sense of satisfaction walking next to her like this, for even if just a little, he'd managed to get through to her… to show he cared, and actually have her believe it. Now it was just a matter of being able to put his money where his mouth was in terms of getting her away from the hands of her abusive foster father.

"We can't beat the system Daniel, this isn't some stupid teenage novel, where we rebel and win, I'm better off just putting up with it for two more years, or trying my chances at running away again".

"Again?" Daniel questioned slowly, hearing her sigh in response, as she mumbled, "it was a failed attempt, some police officer found me on the fifth night and brought me back to the station... I was thirteen at the time."

"He probably saved you, you know" Daniel murmured quietly, thinking about his little sister who was that age now. He couldn't imagine a thirteen year old girl surviving on the streets alone. "Though I bet you were pretty tough even then"

"Only because I had to be" Amanda muttered bitterly, not wanting to delve into just how much the system had hardened her personality and shed her innocence.

"Well what about emancipation?" Daniel questioned, only vaguely knowing what that really entailed, but wanting to put out a viable solution. A solution Amanda only scoffed at in return as she kicked harshly at the pebbles on the ground, "Ideally that would be the best, but the judge would never grant me that, I'm literally one act away from Juvie, not independent living"

"But if the judge could be swayed?" Daniel persisted, his mind by default beginning to reel like a Grayson's.

"Swayed by what?" Amanda asked sarcastically "my sunny disposition".

Daniel shook his head, "No, by my parents" he replied, not noticing the way her body instantly stiffened at his suggestion, "They have powerful connections everywhere, they could really help you, you know."

"No", Amanda muttered in response, the words instantaneous out of her mouth, as she shook her head for good measure. She didn't want the parent Grayson's to be her answer... they couldn't be not when deep down she had always known them to be the devil's who had corrupted her father.

"Why would they even help me?" Amanda replied sourly, "I don't need their pity".

"My parents aren't capable of pity, I'm hardly sure they're even capable of sympathy" Daniel replied slowly, his face scrunching up in confusion at her clear disdain for what he viewed as a foolproof solution, "but… if I talk to them, I know I could convince them."

Turning to face Daniel, observing the seriousness in his face, Amanda could see that Daniel held no sense of doubt that his parents would not be able to help, but even with that knowledge, and even with the tangible prospect of their help enabling herself to escape the foster care system, instinctively, Amanda's strongest impulse, despite all that, was to viciously repel the very idea of _their_ help.

"They wouldn't help me" Amanda replied firmly, a hint of resentment escaping her voice as she added, "I'm a Clarke remember".

"You talk about them as though they've done something personal to you. You don't…."

"Don't what" Amanda interrupted coldly, her tone cautioning Daniel to tread carefully as he slowly replied, "I don't know…think they're to blame or anything?".

Amanda shook her head slowly in response, knowing it was what he needed to hear. The movement causing her head to feel unusually heavy, as though it didn't quite agree with her motion, "All I know is that one day my father was good and the next day he was evil, and I was screaming and being carried out of my house by a swat team. Your parents were on my porch that night… and it made it more painful knowing that your mother…."

"My mother what?" Daniel interrupted, his voice both firm and anxious, as he looked at Amanda with defensive eyes.

Staring back at him, her brown eyes catching the subtle but ever so present protective look in his own brown eyes. It was as though a wave of realization suddenly washed over her, reminding her of what he really was... a Grayson.

Daniel had made it so easy to forget but no matter how kind he was... or how unlike them he seemed, when it came down to it, Daniel was still very much their son, and though he was able to recognize his parent's flaws, like any good child he believed that at their very core lay good.

"Nevermind" Amanda mumbled, keeping the secret of his mother's affair with her father to herself. She wasn't ready to offend the one person she might have on her side, or worse deal with the likelihood of him refusing to believe her and defending his mother, an action she knew would hurt her most. "I just... recall a look of pity in her eyes that night... that's all."

"I'm sorry" Daniel whispered sincerely, knowing his apology wouldn't offer her much comfort but feeling the need to say it anyway. "You never deserved this pain".

"It's not like I got to choose" Amanda murmured quietly, a painful look across her face as her mind without warning flashed back to the night it had all changed.

"Maybe not" Daniel responded slowly, gently bumping into Amanda's shoulder so she looked towards him, wanting her to see that she wasn't alone, " but you can choose now... let me ask my parents, and let them help you… My mother's here now in Connecticut. My parents flew down to watch my final match and my mother booked a hotel room for the night, while my father went home for business soon after we won." Daniel quickly explained, leaving out the part where he was supposed to have left with his mother hours ago. As it was his teammates who had left in the coach bus they had come in together, had probably arrived back home in the Hampton's by now.

Still, he was glad he had decided to look for Emi... Amanda, Daniel thought to himself as his gaze shifted somberly towards the bruise on her face, thankful that he hadn't left her alone to deal with the enduring situation of her abuse. "Please say, you'll take my solution" Daniel gently pleaded, his soft brown eyes staring into hers so intently that Amanda's head began to throb.

He held so much hope it was painful, and Amanda couldn't share his same view, knowing all too well the burden of the name she carried. It wouldn't all be okay, that's what life had taught her… so if Daniel was looking to save her then she'd always fall through his grasp, but maybe, just maybe he could at least help her…. n a way he already had by offering her his friendship. And if Daniel really could get her out of the system... even at the mercy of that dark-haired woman, then maybe swallowing her pride and the aversion she felt towards the idea was something she just had to do. In any case... whatever would come after making a deal with the devil, couldn't be much worse than being used as a punching bag for a man almost three times her age.

"Okay" Amanda whispered, her voice barely audible as she squeezed out the words, he wanted to hear, "Please help me".

* * *

 **Present Day**

"Do you do these things just to spite me?" Conrad asked angrily, his voice having honed the bitter tone, he reserved for his equally sharp-tongued wife. "I leave you alone for a second… and you seek that man's daughter and bring her into our house, like you would a stray dog".

"That's an interesting tale you're spinning " Victoria replied, scowling from where she sat at the foot of their bed, her eyes trailing Conrad as he paced the room in unsettlement. "When it was your son, who found the girl".

"My son", Conrad laughed, "We both know who he resembles more… I mean it was from you where he got his weak spot for a Clarke", Conrad quipped, a sense of satisfaction washing over his face as he watched Victoria's cloud in aggravation.

 **24 hours ago**

"Did you say Amanda Clarke?" Victoria questioned, her face paling and her eyes widening in silent surprise, as the name Clarke began to expand in her mind, bombarding her system of the memories she had forced herself to suppress. His gentle nature and sincere brown eyes, the way he'd look at her as though he saw her for the woman she aspired to be, and not the woman beyond repair she actually was.

It was his daughter who had seen right through her though. She still remembered that stormy night when David had grasped her cold wet hand in his warm one, leading her upstairs towards his bedroom. He hadn't seen, too wrapped up with his destination in mind, but as she had trailed willingly behind him… her peripheral vision had caught something… or more someone staring back at her with cold, suspecting eyes from behind the kitchen counter. It was as though even then Amanda Clarke had known she was toxic... unable to be trusted, even when she herself was fooled by the delusion that she would love David purely. She had felt chills that night from the warning eyes of an eight-year old child, knowing now that it was because it was the premonition of her betrayal to come.

"... She can't stay in that house with her foster father abusing her" Daniel continued, carefully choosing his words as he optimized his mother's surprising silence to explain how they had become friends, and why he needed her help, "and being the daughter of a terrorist, the foster system's so unfairly stacked against her that she doesn't even get a real chance."

"It may not seem fair, Daniel" Victoria replied slowly, "but the foster system's in place for a reason, and if Amanda is being abused as you say she is, then she should be moved to a different home".

"If?" Daniel repeated in disbelief, his fists clenching up in anger at the thought of what she'd been enduring, being viewed as something merely debatable. "He left the bruise on her face".

"A bruise is only proof that one has been hit, it doesn't show by who." Victoria responded candidly, her eyes narrowing as she looked down at her son and added, " You need to consider the idea that Amanda's been using you, knowing the power and wealth you hold as a Grayson. You've always been too kind, your father's not wrong when he calls it a weakness".

"I don't believe that" Daniel responded steadfastly, staring at his mother with defiant eyes, disappointed but hardly surprised by the way his mother had been able to twist his story, into one where Amanda was a deceiving opportunist. "Amanda of all people sees me as as more than just a Grayson… and unlike you and Dad, I don't want to live my life being feared, I'd much rather have people see me for me".

"You've become awfully close to somebody you've only known for a week" Victoria replied disapprovingly, the cruel irony of the situation causing a sickening feeling to settle in her stomach. Their son, and David's daughter, if that wasn't karma then she didn't know what was.

Shaking his head in frustration, feeling it rising up inside of him, Daniel breathed in deeply, knowing he had to quell it being at the mercy of his mother. "Please" Daniel pleaded, the determination and purity in his dark brown eyes causing her to wonder where he got his heart from. It certainly wasn't from her… her heart had been corrupted long ago, and as for Conrad's, she knew his was as warped as her own.

"I promised Amanda I would help her and all it would take is a little compassion from you and dad. If you could just talk to the judge or someone, make her life a little easier. You always parade around all those charity events, claiming to care about people other than yourselves, but other than throwing money at less fortunate people's problems, you rarely show it. Helping her would go the longest of ways, I mean she's hardly even been given at least the chance of happiness."

 _That's all I really wish for Amanda….for her to be happy in life_

* * *

 **Flashback**

The two of them were sitting on the sofa snuggled up against each other by his fireplace, "I want to show you something" David whispered, brushing a strand of hair from her eyes, before standing up and coming back moments later with a little scrapbook. Opening it up to the first page as he settled back down next to Victoria, David smiled as he stared down at his daughter's first baby picture. "Isn't she adorable?" he murmured dolefully.

Victoria nodded her head in response, watching as he flipped through the pages, each photo telling a simple story, and demonstrating the unending love he held for his daughter, "She has your eyes".

"And my stubbornness" David laughed, "I feel like she's growing up so fast though...I mean you know with Daniel... but you just want to shield them from everything bad, everything toxic in the world, but the older they get the more exposed to it they become. Like one day, I'll have to tell her the truth about her mother… for now though I just want her childhood memories to be full of sunshine. That's all I really wish for Amanda… for her to be happy in life."

 **Flashback End**

* * *

Daniel was right, Victoria thought, unbeknownst to him, not even realizing the depth of the situation his own parents had created. Not only had they tarnished David's image and stolen his future, but they had also stolen the one wish he held for his daughter.

Victoria had willed herself to forget the night they had framed David Clarke and the messy aftermath of all it. _It was for Daniel_... she had told herself... _for her family_ … _she'd had no choice_. Those thoughts hardly comforted her but she had needed to tell herself something rather than that her selfishness and self-preservation held no bounds. Her guilt had never ended, but as any selfish person could, she'd learned to live with it... even thrived by the ruthless nature it had created in her. Though that wasn't to say she no longer felt it… traces of her guilt still lingered in every ounce of her being. Maybe her son befriending Amanda was more than just cruel irony, maybe helping her was her chance to assuage at least a little of that guilt. At the very least David Clarke might stop haunting her in her dreams, if she helped his precious little daughter.

* * *

"And what in your right mind compelled you to agree to his request of helping her? Did we not wash ourselves of the Clarke's long ago"

"The Clarke's yes… but not the guilt", Victoria responded slowly, her voice sounding sore and exhausted, "no matter how much I try to scrub it off, it doesn't….. it's stained. And you can't tell me you don't feel it anymore either. You may have hated the man but…"

"We did what we had to do Victoria" Conrad interrupted, his voice firm and unwavering, though deep down even his hardened heart couldn't deny the discord he felt at what they'd done, "and given those same circumstances I'd do it again if I had too and I know you would too."

His words momentarily silencing Victoria into unwanted thoughts where his words rang true, Victoria shook her head opting not to respond to his statement, and instead got back to the situation at hand, "I know this situation is less than ideal, and I don't want his daughter in our house anymore than you do, but our son befriended her, and though I see it more as a cruel coincidence than anything else, I can't help but feeling as though maybe we should help her... it may ease our guilt a little, and at the very least it's not as though that sixteen year old girl is any threat to us."

She'd made sure of that years in advance, when she had enlisted Dr. Michelle Banks, then just an overworked, mentally drained psychiatrist, to institutionalize an eight year old Amanda and condition her into believing that her loving father was as guilty as every one else believed . Amanda had proved stubborn for a long while at first but overtime, Dr. Banks had been able to twist Amanda's young mind, and innocent heart into believing what they wanted her to know as true.

Conrad nodded his head slowly in response, feeling no compelling reason to argue against Victoria this time around, or simply just not having the energy to. Sighing, Conrad looked towards her, his cold gray eyes locking onto her calculating dark brown ones, as he uttered, "Fine, but she's all yours Victoria, I washed myself of the Clarke's long ago."

* * *

It was the late afternoon, when Daniel and Amanda Clarke were summoned by Victoria Grayson. Prior to, Amanda had taken up Daniel's offer to bide time in his room with him.

His room was spacious and polished, straight out of a page from a home interior magazine for the perfect teenage boy's room, and it really was perfect, geared with all the necessary electronics and gadgets most guys would drool over but could not afford. In a way though, it seemed a little impersonal to his own self, like something he had little say in decorating, though there were little things she noticed in the room that made it his own.

Walking into the living room now to find Victoria sitting poised on her favourite armchair, Amanda glanced at her apprehensively before taking a seat beside Daniel on the three-seater sofa opposite from Victoria.

"So I talked to your father" Victoria spoke, addressing her son first, before shifting her eyes and message to the teenage girl beside him, "and we've agreed to see what we can do in helping you become emancipated, Amanda. In the meantime, you'll be staying with us. I have already smoothed things over with your supervising social worker".

"Thank you" Amanda murmured in reply, slow in unsurety as she forced herself to look up into the dark eyes of the woman in front of her, unable to shake the dissonance she felt within or the aversion felt towards Victoria. Still this was a good thing wasn't it? Emancipation was her chance to be free of the system, so why question Victoria and her motive in helping her.

"However" Victoria continued, watching as her son began to narrow his eyes at her, unsurprised that his mother had a catch. "Reintroducing Amanda Clarke back into the Hampton's, would cause too much havoc".

"What are you saying?" Daniel questioned, trying not to sound defensive, as he looked towards Amanda to see her reaction. She had given none though, simply waiting for Victoria to finish first.

"I'm saying that if Amanda Clarke wants to stay in the Hampton's and away from the foster system, then she needs to keep her identity hidden. This of course is for her own benefit as well, the press would not leave her alone, and neither would questions and preconceptions from people within the Hampton's".

Biting his lip, trying to hold his tongue, Daniel shook his head, knowing that although his mother could be right, keeping Amanda's identity hidden, was for nobody's benefit but her own. Put simply, Victoria did not want the Grayson's to be associated with the daughter of an infamous terrorist, even though Amanda herself was just another one of David's victims, unlucky enough to be of the same blood. It truly aggravated him that even when his mother was helping somebody, the matter of her image... or the Grayson image could never stray far from her mind.

"I understand" Amanda replied quietly, deep down even feeling relieved that for a little while at least, she could shed herself of the soiled stain her father had left upon her.

"So your name will be... "

"Emily Thorne" Amanda quickly filled in for Victoria, the name already feeling the most comfortable.

Victoria simply nodded her head, as she laid out the story with quick expertise, "Emily Thorne is the daughter of a family friend… Charles Thorne who lives in LA and works for a pharmaceutical company. She is staying with us for a short while, while her father's away on business".

"What about her mother?" Daniel asked.

"She died in a car crash when Emily was young" Victoria responded easily, something about the way she said it, making Amanda stiffen.

"Is this story understood?" Victoria questioned coercively, narrowing her eyes at Amanda as she waited for her response.

"Of course" Amanda muttered, trying to hide her uneasiness and the way Victoria just rubbed her the wrong way, as she watched the so called Queen of the Hampton's lips curl up into a small accomplished smile.

"You have one chance" Victoria added sternly, her eyes seeming to darken in warning, as she bore them into Amanda's, "I'm doing you a favour but I will not hesitate to take it all away, if word gets out that you are Amanda Clarke".

"I understand" Amanda replied firmly, refusing to avert her eyes away from the older woman's fierce gaze, not wanting to seem intimidated by someone she suspected many feebly bowed down to.

"With that being said, I've arranged for a hairdresser to come first thing tomorrow morning to fix that hair of yours… the black dye has to go. And nobody is going to believe you're a friend of the Grayson's if you're dressed like that, so I've instructed Charlotte to take you around town tomorrow, to dress you up the part of an affluent teenage girl. No objections I hope?" Victoria questioned in a self-assured voice, narrowing her eyes at Amanda until she shook her head in begrudging compliance, swallowing down the distaste she felt.

"Well I guess that's that" Daniel murmured, not knowing whether to thank his mother or apologize to Amanda for her harshness, knowing per usual his mother's way of going about things or way with words wasn't the softest. Still she had promised to get Amanda emancipated, so he was more grateful to her than anything else. Standing up from the couch, sensing their conversation was over, Daniel thanked his mother earnestly receiving a tight-lipped smile in return as he began to walk out the room, Amanda close on his heels. But before she could turn the corner and leave the queen to her demons, Victoria's voice rung through the air, reluctantly stopping her, and forcing herself to turn back around to face her.

"I'm doing you a grand favour Amanda, emancipation with the awful track record you have isn't even considered in courts. I want you to remember that" Victoria said calculatedly, her eyes narrowing at the tough young girl in front of her, sensing that she needed to be further pressured into her control. Amanda's circumstances had no doubt hardened the bright-eyed smiling little girl, David had once showed her in pictures, but empathy wasn't one of Victoria's strong suits, and she wouldn't tolerate defiance nor foolish lips spilling her secrets of her affair with David Clarke.

"With that being said" Victoria continued, standing up dauntingly from her chair as she walked closer towards Amanda, finding proximity was always best when threatening somebody. "I trust you'll have the good sense, to keep the past in the past, Amanda", she callously finished, having no doubt that David's daughter would understand her message clearly.

Nodding her head slowly, this time not hiding the glower in her own brown eyes or ignoring the aversion felt in the pit of her stomach, before turning and walking away, Amanda stared fiercely back at her father's twisted lover and coolly replied, "It's Emily now, Victoria."

* * *

Staring at her reflection in the dressing room mirror Amanda lifted her hand up to her hair, twirling her now honey blond curls between her fingers trying to determine how she felt about being back to her natural color.

In a word… she felt vulnerable. Her jet black straightened hair, had been more than just a fashion statement or rebellious act. It had been a part of her identity, the one she'd created for Amanda Clarke. The girl no one dared to mess with, or feared trying to know. Her hair had cemented her image as the tough, angry, closed-off girl she was by hardening all the features on her face or by simply hiding them. With blonde hair though... it wasn't the same, it had softened her whole look, and taken away that harshness.

And already she felt it… felt weakened, though maybe that had something to do with the Hampton's effect on her. It certainly wasn't easy being back after eight years. It had taken more willpower than she wanted to admit to even step outside on the beach shore. An action she had taken alone in the middle of the night, that very same evening they had arrived. Of course the beach on Grayson Manor, had a different viewpoint than the one she had as a kid, but it had helped… trying to reintegrate her body back into the Hampton's through the beach she had once loved. That same night, Amanda had also forced herself to glance at her old beach house, knowing that she couldn't shield her eyes from what was now so close. It had left a sharp aching pain in the pit of her stomach, but she'd kept staring anyway, wanting to prove to herself that she could handle the pain all the reminders in the Hampton's would inevitably conjure up.

Glaring in the mirror now, Amanda let out a small growl of frustration as she adjusted the burgundy top she was supposed to be trying on for Charlotte, unaccustomed to clothes shopping and fancy boutiques, or giving two shits over which top suited her best, or what the hell her fashion style was. In a word, she hated it, it felt so foreign, so silly to fuss over so many different clothes for so long. And the prices were just ridiculous, $500 for a single pair of jeans. She could imagine a hundred different ways a foster child could more productively spend that money, and still have extra for the couple nice things, they didn't need but just really wanted.

It made her want to hate them… all of them, all the people flashing their pearly white teeth at the cashier's and swiping their shiny credit cards loaded with an abundant amount of funds. But she couldn't hate all of them… she couldn't hate Charlotte Grayson. She was spoiled, sheltered and naive to the core... everything she truly hated. But Charlotte, like her brother, also held something their parents didn't seem to have; a genuineness, and sincerity about herself, that shone through her privilege.

When Amanda had first been introduced to Charlotte, she'd found herself wanting to draw away from the cheerful young girl and her smile, it painfully reminding her of the girl she had once been. As Amanda was now though, they were complete opposites, herself troubled, closed-off and distrusting, while Charlotte's personality was bright and innocent.

Even still the younger girl had been excited to get to know her, as she'd led Amanda through the town taking her mother's instructions to dress Amanda like one of them very seriously. She had asked a lot of questions at first, but quickly realizing Amanda wasn't a talker, Charlotte had filled the silence with her own voice, much like Daniel had on the bench. She had also taken the lead when finding clothes, noticing Amanda wasn't very much into it. All in all Charlotte had been able to make what Amanda had expected to be an unbearable day…much more enjoyable, and for that Amanda was grateful to the younger girl.

* * *

Sitting beside Charlotte in the back seat of the Mercedes Benz their shopping day long over. Amanda felt her heart racing as the Grayson chauffeur lolled the car into a gentle stop outside of a familiar setting which had once felt like a second home to her childhood self.

"What are we doing here" Amanda asked painfully, shifting her eyes towards the girl beside her.

 **Flashback**

"This is where you live" An eight year old Amanda asked skeptically, stepping inside the Stowaway Tavern behind her best friend Jack Porter, and shifting closer towards him in fear, as a big burly man with a scruffy beard walked past them towards the bar table.

"It's sort of scary" she whispered, her eyes looking around the dim lit bar to spot big men scattered around the room, laughing loudly and clinking their beer glasses against each other's, "And where's your bedroom?" Amanda asked curiously, waving shyly towards Jack's father behind the bar counter. Mr. Porter being the one familiar face she knew in the place.

Laughing quietly, having long ago become accustomed to the locals of their bar, most of them always much friendlier than their appearance. Jack grabbed her hand, not used to seeing Amanda shy as he weaved their bodies expertly through the chairs and table, and led her up the stairs "I'll show you" he replied with a smile, excited to show her his beach rock collection and sail themed bed sheets.

 **Flashback End**

Feeling a lump begin to form at the back of her throat as warm memories of the two of them began to resurrect in her mind. Amanda closed her eyes and shook her head slowly, not feeling prepared enough to see him... not yet.

"How did you know?" Amanda questioned slowly, a hint of uneasiness in her voice as she stared at the youngest Grayson waiting for an explanation.

"Declan Porter's my best friend" Charlotte replied with a smile, "so I come here a lot… and Jack he's talked about you before, always with a painful smile, but he says sometimes we remind him of you and him… or of how he'd imagined you and him would be at thirteen."

Blinking in quiet surprise, trying to process the strange correlation of Charlotte's words, Amanda looked out towards the bar, unable to deny the feeling of warmth and relief at the mention that Jack still thought about her, as she often did him. Jack had always been her happy place to go back to, her safe place, when her real world was too hard to manage.

* * *

Trying to steady her composure, as she waited for Charlotte to bring Jack outside to meet her, Amanda feeling rattled from nerves found herself walking towards the docks behind the bar where the cool ocean breeze blew stronger. It was there she spotted it, anchored against the docks, a medium sized, dark blue sail boat, her name painted across it in golden letters. "The Amanda" she whispered to herself quietly, walking closer towards it as her fingertips lightly trailed the smooth outer surface of the boat.

Snapping out of her trance as a loud bark erupted from behind her, Amanda instinctively retracted her hand from the boat as she turned around to see a large golden dog bounding towards her. "Sammy" she whispered emotionally, flashing back to the day the small, soft, energetic puppy had been put into her arms, and marveling at how he had now grown. Bending down, laughing as Sammy jumped up onto her tongue wagging excitedly from the familiarity of his former owner, Amanda stroked his head affectionately, and buried her face into his fur, whispering how much she had missed him.

It was only when Sammy let out a soft little bark, did Amanda lift her face to see a teenage boy with messy dark brown hair staring back at her with electrifying sea blue eyes. Jack's eyes, Amanda thought, exhaling the long breath of air she'd unintentionally been holding in at the thought that it was really him. Jack hadn't changed... well he had grown of of course, his body showing off a strong, dependable build, and his height having obviously increased. Though staring at him, Amanda suspected she may have nearly closed the gap in their height difference which had seemed so evident as children. What hadn't changed though was Jack's warm and kind disposition which she could immediately feel even after all these years,.

"Sammy" Jack called out slowly, feeling as though he was interrupting the girls special moment with his own dog. Laughing awkwardly, when Sammy ignored his calling and instead remained contently by her side, Jack raked his fingers through his hair in confusion, sending the girl who'd captured his dog's attention a friendly smile.

She was pretty by any standard and looked to be about his age; she was average in height, slender, and had soft honey-blonde coloured hair that fell down in waves and striking brown eyes that felt strangely familiar... if not faraway.

"I think he likes you better than his own owner" Jack joked casually, getting a very small smile out of a frozen Amanda Clarke.

She was expecting too much out of him, it wasn't fair, Amanda thought to herself silently, knowing that she needed to tell him... tell him who she was. But a part of herself... maybe the selfish part didn't want to tell him, she just wanted him to know, to look her in the eyes and recognize her for the best friend who'd shared so many happy times with him a summer that felt forever ago.

It felt important.

Jack recognizing her meant more than that he hadn't forgotten her, Charlotte's words already confirmed that he hadn't. To Amanda, Jack recognizing her meant that there was still some little part of the girl she had once been connected to her present self... and that was important. She'd lost so much already, and she wasn't ready to lose the one untarnished part of herself she'd shared with Jack.

Staring back at him her chestnut coloured eyes pleading with him to truly see her, Amanda felt her heart begin to sink when instead he casually began to mention that he'd never seen her around before. "Are you new?" Jack questioned, trying to make light conversation.

Shifting uncomfortably, Amanda shrugged her shoulders disappointingly, "I should really go" she replied, taking comfort by the fact that at least Sammy had recognized her.

"Wait, I didn't get your name" Jack murmured slowly, watching with an unsettling feeling of discord as the teenage girl bent down to pet his dog affectionately.

Standing back up to face him, her brown eyes staring into his blue, giving him one more chance to recognize her, Amanda faked a smile before a painful lie flew off her tongue, "Emily" she replied, as she turned to walk away, needing time to regain her steadily crumbling composure and mourn the ceased existence of little Amanda Clarke before she could face him again.

Watching as she walked away, her blonde hair blowing in soft waves behind her, Jack bit his lip in confusion, wondering why he suddenly felt so heavyhearted. Something just didn't feel right... it felt off, he was missing something, something important, something about that girl... and he desperately needed to know what.

Bending down to pet Sammy who kept barking as the girl got further away, Jack scratched Sammy behind his ears, trying to quiet him, as he thought about the strange way Emily had seemed to know all Sammy's favourite petting spots, even the hidden spot between his right shoulder blade and stomach.

It couldn't be Jack thought in puzzlement, feeling his heart beat begin to quicken as he recalled the way her eyes had felt so familiar. Even her presence had held a certain sense of familiarity, though he'd initially just brushed the feeling off as him taking a quick liking to her. Any friend of Sammy's was a friend of his, he'd internally rationalized.

But what if it was more than that, what if she felt familiar because she was actually someone he knew.

* * *

Hearing the firm patter of sneakers across the pavement floor, followed by the sound of four paws, Amanda turned back around to see Jack and Sammy running after her, "Wait Emily" Jack called out, causing her to reluctantly turn around.

Once caught up a slightly out of breath Jack Porter smiled sheepishly at Amanda, this time gazing into her eyes carefully, hoping with every inch of his pounding heart that what he desperately wanted to believe, was actually true and not just the cruelty of wishful thinking, "I never told you my name" he finally said, a sly look in his eyes as he smiled, "I'm Ethan Hook".

 **Flashback**

"So what do you want to play" Jack asked plopping down on the soft warm sand beside Amanda. It was a bright sunny day, and having filled their stomach's with the mini burgers Amanda's father had grilled on the barbecue, they'd run back out onto the beach to play. "And don't say house, we always play that, and you always make me play the Dad"

"Well of course you play the Daddy" Amanda replied matter of factly, "there's only three of us, and Sammy has to play the dog or the baby, I play the mummy and you play the daddy, it just makes sense" Amanda giggled, scratching Sammy behind the ear. "But fine, how about mermaids and merman?" she suggested, shifting over so Jack could stroke Sammy too.

"Nah not today" Jack murmured, "then sandcastle making competition?" Amanda further suggested, only to have him turn that down too. Falling silent her face scrunched up in deep thought, Amanda suddenly jumped up enthusiastically, a smile gracing her lips as she thought of something new, "How about we play spies?" she exclaimed her eyes sparkling in excitement as she pulled Jack up from the sand. "We could go on secret missions, and fight bad guys, and spy on the people over there".

Turning his attention towards where Amanda was pointing to the group of teenagers far off in the distance, Jack's face broke into a cheeky smile as he nodded his head, taking an immediate liking to her fun sounding game. "Before we start though, we need code names, so the bad guys won't know who we are" he suggested, getting the idea from one of his favourite movies.

"You're right!" Amanda shouted clapping her hands excitedly, as she began to think of her perfect spy name, "I'll be Scarlett... no Ava... um actually, I'll be Emily, Emily Thorne" Amanda decided with finality in her voice. "And her secret weapon will be thorns, they'll be super sharp, and she can sting bad guys with them... and freeze people if she puts poison on the tip of it ... and she'll be super strong of course."

"That's so cool" Jack exclaimed, liking the twist of her last name being her special power, Amanda always had the best imagination. "If you're Emily, I'll be an E too, I'll be Ethan... Ethan Hook".

"Like Captain Hook" Amanda giggled, causing him to laugh with her, "Cooler" Jack replied confidently, "I'll still have both my hands, but my secret weapon will be this special hook that I can hide in my pocket, and when I fight bad guys it can grow really big and defeat them".

Nodding her head approvingly, a wide smile breaking onto her face at the exciting prospect of their new game, Amanda clapped her hands together getting into character as she addressed her spy partner, "Okay Ethan Hook, what's our first mission?" Amanda asked in a whisper since they were top secret spies now.

"Mission put a rock on the teenagers blanket without them noticing" Jack replied, "Copy that Emily Thorne"

"Copy that, Ethan Hook" she replied back, trying her best not to giggle.

 **Flashback End**

Staring back at him, her eyes brightening in the comfort that he had truly recognized her, Amanda's lips began to curl up into an honest smile, as she pushed herself to form words over the emotional lump that had formed in her throat. "Captain Hook" she whispered, watching as his face broke into the purest of smiles. Jack too stunned to speak, feeling overwhelmed by the wide array of emotions, thoughts and questions racing through his mind, found his body wasn't as slow to react when he pulled Amanda Clarke into a tight hug, not wanting to let go of his best friend he hadn't seen in years.

Amanda instinctively recoiled at first, unused to feeling another person's body embracing her own, but feeling the warmth of Jack's skin against her own, and catching the lingering scent of the ocean and the Stowaway bar against his clothes, Amanda found herself relaxing as she hugged him back, finally feeling a sense of comfort at her return to the Hampton's... with Jack here, she truly believed she'd be alright.

"I missed you, Amanda" Jack whispered earnestly in her ear as he slowly retracted himself from her body, trying not to blush from their proximity.

" _I missed you too_ " Amanda tried to whisper back, the words getting caught in the back of her throat.

* * *

"You should have seen it Daniel… best friend's reuniting… it was sooo beautiful" Charlotte exclaimed, sitting cross-legged on her brother's bed, as she went over the details of her day with Amanda.

"It was perfect… they even hugged, and she smiled… like truly smiled. I totally ship them."

"They're not some characters in a book... you can't ship them" Daniel replied trying to hide his irritation, "and I can't believe you broke the rules already, you weren't supposed to tell anyone… if word gets out that Amanda Clarke is back in the Hampton's, mum will send her away faster than we can even say goodbye".

"I didn't tell Jack, they recognized each other after eight years" Charlotte countered, "and don't worry, mum doesn't even know the Porter's exist, and I told Declan nobody can know, and Emily will tell Jack the same when they meet tomorrow at their secret spot".

"I hope you're right" Daniel murmured, dismissing the subject with a sigh, as he motioned for Charlotte to answer the knock he heard at his door, too comfortable to get up himself.

"Emily" Charlotte smiled, pulling the older girl into the room with her as she shut the door behind them. Turning to face Amanda at the sound of her name, Daniel's eyes widened in surprise at her new appearance, shed free of the dark black hair dye he was used to.

"You're staring Daniel" Charlotte giggled, as the two of them sat down on the edge of his bed, opposite from where he sat at his desk.

"I'm not" Daniel denied, frowning at Charlotte as he tried not to blush, "I just forgot Emily was getting her hair done today, it surprised me. It looks really nice Emily", Daniel gently complimented, "I'm guessing that's your natural color it suits you". He was no beauty guru but even he could tell that it softened her appearance, and brought out the rich colour of her chocolate brown eyes.

Scoffing at his compliment as she tied her hair into a ponytail, Amanda's response caused Daniel to chuckle at the quick realization that although her appearance had changed, her hair hadn't magically softened the girl he'd befriended on the bench those nights in Connecticut. Daniel wasn't disappointed though, he liked that girl for who she was, the only thing he wanted changed were her bad circumstances and the look of pain he often caught hidden in her eyes.

...

...

...

"Daniel"

Talking wasn't really Amanda's strong point, but as she stood up to leave his room, Charlotte having disappeared a while ago to talk to Declan over the phone, Amanda knew she had to get the words out, the words buried in the back of her throat for a while now.

"Thank you".

Nodding his head slowly, feeling a strange warmth in his heart at the sincerity of her words, Daniel shifted his eyes towards Amanda in surprise, knowing those simple words weren't easy for her to get out.

"For everything" Amanda slowly continued, finding it hard to hold his gaze as she spoke, "for getting me out of a shitty situation of course... but even for showing up all those nights on the bench. I'll probably only say this once but you're a really good friend, Daniel", Amanda whispered before exiting his room.

* * *

Hearing the familiar sound of his mother's high heels tapping against the corridor floor, Daniel looked up from his mac-book, just as his mother walked into his bedroom, placing a brown folder directly into his hands. Feeling his mother's sharp eyes on him, Daniel scanned the top page of the paper before closing the folder and trying to hand it back to her.

'I'm not going to evade her privacy" Daniel uttered firmly, shaking his head in disbelief as his mother picked up Amanda Clarke's foster file and began reading the long list of her offences "Theft, vandalism, running away, alleged arson, school fights… in her last home, prior to the one I took her out of, Amanda ended up sending her foster brother to the hospital with a broken nose".

"I would have done much worse... he tried to climb into her bed at night, of course they only believed the tale he spun though". Daniel muttered angrily, the thought enraging him all over again.

"She told you this?" Victoria questioned.

"She told me her chances of emancipation were next to nothing, I asked why and she gave me a couple reasons. You can't scare me by reading off all her misdeeds, regardless of what she's done, she isn't a bad person ".

"She's clearly a troubled young girl Daniel, it won't do to blind yourself from that fact. I will honor helping Amanda, but I won't have my son befriending a girl he knows little about. I'm giving her one chance" Victoria warned with finality in her voice, as she left her son to his thoughts and exited the room.

One chance for David.


	7. Chapter 7- Understand

**Disclaimer: I Do Not Own Revenge, I Just Love It**

* * *

 **A/N I have no excuse for how long it's taken me to update, so I'm just going to say I'm sorry, and thank you all for reading my story and leaving comments and compliments. Its always really nice to hear. Anyway, I hope everyone had a great Christmas and a Happy New Year.**

 **Here's the new chapter, for those who haven't given up on me me yet :)**

* * *

 **Chapter 7:** **Understand**

It had been two weeks since Amanda's return to the Hampton's, the weeks having gone by relatively fast, despite the days feeling slow with both Daniel and Jack being in school. During those times, if Amanda wasn't going over the details of her emancipation with the Grayson's attorney, she would usually find herself wandering the beach or the town alone, trying to breathe back in all the settings she had forced herself to forget, or discover all the little ways the Hampton's, like her, had changed.

Mostly she just liked to be out of the house when it was her alone though, feeling it was in her best interest to avoid Mr. and Mrs. Grayson. Though consciously, she knew she should feel nothing but gratitude for their help, internally, mistrust and confusion was what flashed through her mind when in their presence. The one good thing about the manor though, was that it was so huge that crossing paths with either of them wasn't as likely as she imagined, especially with their busy schedules.

It was the evening times for Amanda when she felt most comfortable…. when she was with Jack in their booth at the back of the stowaway, or sitting at their hideaway spot along the beach.

Daniel had also been a sense of comfort for her. He had shown her his little spot behind Grayson Manor, where a small wooden bench overlooked the beach. It was the perfect substitute for her bench in Connecticut, and so some nights… the two of them would carry on whatever it was they had started all those nights ago in that different town.

Other nights she'd find Charlotte dragging her to his room, and the three of them… or more the two siblings would talk and laugh and joke around. She would just watch painfully amused, feeling both a part of but also apart from their interactions. Amanda wasn't as light-hearted as them, she couldn't laugh as easily, but just watching them made her feel warmer and so those were always good nights.

When it came down to it though, no matter how calm her nights were or whose presence she spent it in, every night as she laid down to sleep, Amanda Clarke could never settle the feeling of discord deep in her stomach.

It was like she could feel him… her father turning in his grave, enraged by her "saving" being done at the hands of those who had condemned him. Even at death, he couldn't seem to let her have it….. a fresh start, or chance to forget. But maybe, just maybe if she buried all her conflictions, the Grayson's just could.

* * *

Jack shoved his hands into his pockets as he walked along the quiet beach front to meet Amanda at their special spot; a hideaway place they had discovered as children while straying too far along the beach shore. It was more along the outskirts, hidden behind soft sand dunes where the Hampton's sand seemed to blend into the green grass.

It was late almost past midnight but Jack didn't mind. It was the night before Amanda's court date for emancipation, and though she refused to say it, he could sense she was nervous.

In only two weeks together after eight years apart, the two of them had reconnected beautifully. It being a true testament to the special bond they had crafted as children.

"I'll come back for you, I promise" Amanda had whispered, choked with tears all those years ago. At that time he'd believed her with all his young heart, and he'd waited on the beach every day, hoping that day would be the day she'd run up from behind, tap him on the shoulder and say let's play with a smile so wide he'd forget he'd ever seen her cry.

Amanda had never come back though and at the end of that summer, his father had sat him down, and tried his best to break it gently to him that she never would.

Stubbornly at the time Jack had refused to accept that, but the older he grew and the more he began to read and understand about the David Clarke case, the more it dawned on him that his father was probably right.

That's when his wishes began to change, no longer did he immaturely wish that she would return to the Hampton's, and that the three of them including Sammy could play happily on the beach again like nothing ever happened. Instead, he began to wish for her well-being….. that she was in a good home….. that she wasn't all alone, and that eventually she'd learn to get through all the terrible things the David Clarke case had forced upon her.

Having talked to Amanda these past few weeks though, it ripped Jack's heart apart to learn that his wishes for her had never even been heard. It was so frustrating all the horrible things she had endured, and all by herself too. If Jack could have just been there for her…. If he could have helped in some way, but maybe he was being naïve thinking he could have been any more helpful than he was the day social services took her away.

All that pain had left its mark on Amanda too, he could see it everywhere; in her eyes, her voice, her actions, in the way she held herself and the words she spoke. And though Jack could still feel the presence of the bright-eyed Amanda he had once known, hiding underneath, sixteen year old Amanda had definitely changed.

Jack couldn't blame her for that though and he promised himself he never would. As long as he could still feel it, the strong bond they had created as children, then he knew that Amanda Clarke was still Amanda Clarke and that he was still Jack Porter, and that inevitably they'd always find a way to truly understand each other.

* * *

"Scared?" Jack Porter asked quietly, his blue eyes looking at Amanda carefully under the dark indigo sky. They were sitting side by side in their hideaway spot, a late night conversation flowing between them.

Averting her eyes from his as she ran her fingers through the sand, Amanda slowly shook her head, "They're the Grayson's" she replied coolly. "I should be fine… I just".

"Just what?"

"Just can't help wondering what the catch is….." she muttered slowly, the unknown making her most nervous, "Or what's next".

Amanda wasn't usually a nervous person but she knew more than anyone that nothing came easy for her in life…. and this, such grand help on the Grayson's part seemed a fate way too good to be true.

"You told me they're helping you for Daniel, maybe there is no catch." Jack quietly offered. "I've seen these people, they have more money than they know what to do with, and Daniel's their entitled son. He probably gets everything he wants, and he wants…"

Jack paused, his voice trailing off into silence. He still didn't know what Daniel wanted from his best friend. To go so far for someone he'd only met for a week, was still the part of the story he found hard to wrap his head around. But then again maybe to Daniel, it didn't feel like going so far, when he knew he had the power, money and influence to actually help.

Even still, Amanda must have made an impression on Daniel, because help her he did. More than anything Jack was thankful for that though, because not only was Amanda now safe from her abusive foster father, but she was also back home now, where he could look out for her. Still a part of him deep within couldn't help feeling so helpless and frustrated in his inability to help her himself. Daniel Grayson had done more for Amanda in the span of weeks, than he'd been able to do for her in the span of years, and he'd be lying if he said that didn't sting.

"I'm just glad, that you're back and here to stay" Jack added with a gentle smile, playfully bumping into her shoulder to shake her of her looming thoughts and garner her attention back towards him. When he had it, her dark chestnut coloured eyes, staring into his determined blue ones, Jack finally spoke again.

"And whatever happens, you're not alone anymore Amanda…. And I'm old enough now, to make sure I don't lose you again. I promise you that, okay?"

Nodding her head slowly, feeling both an unfamiliar warmth and a bittersweet pang at his words. As her eyes absorbed the conviction in Jack's sea blue eyes, a tiny hidden smile escaped Amanda's lips at the soft comfort his promise provided.

It was one promise she didn't fear putting her trust in.

* * *

It was the cold draft that hit Amanda first, as she stepped inside the grand city hall building. It's rigid, orderly presence causing Amanda to swallow down the uncomfortable lump in the back of her throat, as she pulled at the hem of her soft cream coloured dress, wanting more than anything to rip it off and put back on dark jeans and a darker sweater… but appearance was all in the Hampton's, and even more so when in court for the morning.

"A few words Miss Clarke"

Nodding her head briefly, Amanda turned towards the Grayson's experienced attorney.

His aging face was serious as he spoke, and his eyes were stern with not a hint of encouragement in them. "You will say exactly as we discussed Amanda, no more, no less, you'll stick to the script. You'll speak yes your Honor, no your Honor, you'll stand up straight, no slouching, no mumbling, and you will look the judge in the eyes as though you have nothing to hide... despite your rather long list of offences." He couldn't help but snidely add, "Do you understand Miss Clarke?"

"Yes your Honor" Amanda muttered sarcastically, knowing she shouldn't mock the one advocating her request for emancipation, but despising more than anything the condescending manner in which he spoke to her.

As his eyes narrowed in contempt at her ungrateful response, his lips curling up disapprovingly, Amanda's couldn't help but flicker in slight satisfaction. "I would work on that attitude Miss Clarke" he responded disdainfully.

"And I would…"

Excuse me Mr. Barkely, while I steal Emily" Daniel smoothly interrupted, pulling Amanda firmly by the arm and away from the attorney, who shook his head abruptly in discontent.

"He's an ass, but he's one of the best at his job… if that helps" Daniel reminded her, as they turned the corner, out of eye sight from him.

"Well I had a few things to say to him" Amanda scoffed, as she pulled her arm away from Daniel, and slouched against the wall, silently fuming.

Leaning against the wall beside her, giving her a few minutes to herself, soon enough Daniel broke the silence.

"So, how do you feel?" he asked inquiringly his brown eyes looking into hers intently, until she averted her eyes down and shrugged her shoulders, looking noticeably uncomfortable. "I hate this damn place, courts only ever brought me pain", Amanda resentfully muttered. "But I'm fine I guess".

"Are you worried?" Daniel questioned again, with a quick side glance towards her.

"About what? I'm not naïve Daniel" she murmured, "Your fancy attorney's just for show, but regardless of his help no sane judge would grant my emancipation. I'm a ticking time bomb, that's what my last social worker called me. But you're a Grayson, and your parent's are powerful people, that's what you told me didn't you?"

Nodding his head slowly, Daniel wet his lips to speak, knowing what Amanda was getting at but wanting to approach it with a little discretion. Amanda beat him to it though, discretion straight out the window, "So what did it take?", she questioned boldly, a dark curiosity in her eyes as she stared at Daniel, waiting for him to reply. "to persuade the judge".

"I don't know, I didn't ask" Daniel sighed, feeling slightly uncomfortable. Though people could often guess, he still had a hard time admitting his parents could so easily bend the rules or get around obstacles most people couldn't, even if it was in good faith, like this time. "Why does it matter….. just be relieved Amanda".

Narrowing her eyes at him at his use of her given name, it feeling slightly off coming from his lips, Amanda shook her head as she muttered "I am relieved, Daniel". She was also just curious. Though it had worked in her favour this time, the Grayson's influence on the Hampton's and its residents, still made her uneasy, and in her own sick sense of curiosity, she just wanted to know how much she had been worth to them to influence the judge.

"How come you don't ask" she questioned with narrowed eyes, breaking the brief silence that had transpired, "because you don't want to know, or because you don't care to know as long as it all works out?"

"Neither….. both, I don't know" Daniel replied struggling to find the right words under her gaze. Whether intentional or not he found a streak of judgement in them, and he couldn't deny it made him uneasy, especially because he knew if he had to choose between his parents ugly truth or their convenient lie, he'd probably go with the latter to make it easier for him to swallow. "But they're not…."

"Not, what?"

"My parents aren't bad people, they may flex their power and influence…. bend the rules sometimes, but they don't abuse it. They're not..."

"I know" Amanda interrupted, the words feeling heavy off her lips as though she didn't quite believe them. Still…. who was she to question the ones who were helping her.

"Let's go Emily" Daniel sighed, glad she'd dropped the subject, "my Mum will kill us, if we walk into the courtroom late".

Nodding her head slowly, Amanda walked silently behind him, her mind a buzz as she thought about how different this year was already shaping up to be with the unlikely help of the one suited up teenage boy walking confidently in front of her.

* * *

"Why the Amanda" Amanda Clarke asked from where she sat crossed legged along the docks, watching as Jack quickly got to work on un-anchoring his boat for sail. It was the early evening time in the Hampton's, and an eager Charlotte Grayson had decided to plan a little celebration in honour of Amanda's successful emancipation. It had been Jack's idea though to celebrate on his boat, deciding it was about time, he introduced Amanda to The Amanda.

Shrugging his shoulders, as he worked to untie the boat, Jack avoided her eyes, as he softly replied, "I don't know… I just wanted it to be named after something that means something…. If that makes sense".

Nodding her head slowly, warmed by his words, but unsure how best to display that, Amanda stood up and walked closer towards the boat, as she smiled and said, "The boat means a lot to you, that makes sense… I'm really glad you have it, you could always talk my ear off about boats and sailing. How'd you ever convince your Dad to let you own one?"

"A good friend of his was wanting to sell this boat, and he was really looking for someone he knew would take good care of it. He wanted me to have it and he gave us a really good price. It was still most of my savings… and my dad had to chip in too, so I'm working for free at the Stowaway until I pay him off but…. it's worth it."

"Looks like it" Amanda replied, noticing the way his whole face lit up when he talked about it, "I'll trust you to teach me the ropes then Captain Jack".

"Well step aboard" Jack replied with a bright smile, his hand held out for hers so she could step on more stably. Taking it thankful for his strong grip, as the boat bobbed just on the water at her movement, the two of them looked out towards the docks to see Daniel, Charlotte and Declan nearing the boat.

"You two better not be sailing off without us…. we have the treats." Declan yelled playfully at his brother. The treats being a tray of assorted cupcakes, which no doubt Charlotte had sweetly persuaded the Grayson cook to make for the occasion.

Everyone seemed to have a soft spot for that girl, from Daniel, to Jack, to the maids in the house, to her cold grey-eyed father. Even Amanda herself was quickly beginning to realize that she might too.

* * *

It was their sense of ease… her sense of ease with him that Daniel noticed most of all in Emily's interactions with Jack Porter. She was different around him…. more comfortable… less guarded. It was the little things he noticed, the way her smile seemed less restrained when in his presence, the soft steady flow of their conversations… and the way she never felt the need to shake off his friendly touch, like his hand on her shoulder.

Things like that… things that were still slowly developing between him and Emily. Jack had years on him though, and no amount of catching up would change that.

"Isn't it beautiful… sailing?" Jack asked Amanda, from where the three of them stood by the steering wheel. "Coming out here is the most peaceful thing for me, I always feel just a little more free…. you know, breathing in all this fresh ocean air."

"It's a release" Amanda whispered back feeling it too, in fact, she felt the most comfortable she had in years, it was hard not to daydream that the five of them could just go sailing on. The ocean she could handle…. but society and strangers….. she was so tired of living in a world that didn't want her… fighting in a world that only hurt.

Here though, with Jack and Daniel and Charlotte and Declan… she felt all right… in fact she felt kind of happy, if happy was even allowed in her life.

"So what's your release?" Daniel questioned, his words just beating the same question about to slip off Jack's tongue.

"You should know" Amanda replied instantly, her eyes staring into his as she added, "it was how we first met".

"Theft?" Daniel questioned playfully, his lips upturned as he watched her crack a smile through the frown she was trying to send him. "Our second encounter then".

"Drawing" Jack responded for Daniel much to his irritation, "You were always so good at it when we were younger too. Remember when you insisted the only way for me to catch up to you was if you became my art teacher."

"and for a whole week before we went out to the beach, I made you sit down at my kitchen table and practice your drawing on that mini white board I had" Amanda said with a laugh.

"You were my meanest art teacher to date" Jack replied with a nostalgic warmth in his eyes…. What's your drawing like now?"

"Probably amazing" Daniel responded, inputting himself back into the conversation, liking that he had information Jack did not, as he added "but Emily doesn't show her drawings to anyone they're secret".

"Well I've seen Amanda's drawings since we were kids" Jack replied back steadily, his eyes cutting from an inwardly annoyed Daniel to Amanda who had purposely shifted her gaze back to the ocean, her lips pursed until she quietly muttered…. "I can draw you one picture, I suppose"

"Deal" Jack replied with a wide smile it contrasting with the frown appearing on Daniel's face.

* * *

They were sitting with blankets now, the cool evening air having taken over especially with them being on the water. Declan and Charlotte had taken over the steering wheel, but mostly the gentle waves were moving The Amanda along.

Jack and Amanda had once again fallen back into childhood memories, Daniel having given up with trying to change the subject a long time ago. Instead to remain in the conversation he began to ask questions of his own, liking to hear what Emily had once been like before years of being ostracized in the foster system.

"Do you ever think of him…. your father" Jack eventually asked softly, knowing it was a touchy subject but wanting to understand his best friend just a little better. That question having been on his mind for a while now since they had first reunited. Shaking her head firmly, her whole body having gone tense at the question, Amanda sighed as she bitterly murmured "I try not to".

Nodding his head slowly in understanding, Jack tentatively continued, "You know I never believed it…. your father was a good man Amanda….."

"My father was a terrorist" Amanda muttered sharply and automatically, her eyes seeming to darken as the words left her mouth. "And I'd rather not talk about him Jack".

Biting down on his lip hard, as his eyes clouded in confusion, Jack could sense her discomfort as she turned away from him, listening to Daniel who had began talking to purposely try and change the subject.

It didn't make sense though, Amanda had adored her father and David had seemed like the type of man to move mountains for his daughter. It had always made him jealous as a kid, seeing the way her father's eyes had lit up so brightly when he had stared at her. He knew that his own father he loved him very much too, but sometimes he wished that love could have been just as transparent as David Clarke's was for Amanda. There was no way David could have done that to her, and no way the kind, smiling man, who had watched him play with his daughter all those warm summer days could have committed such a heinous act.

"You don't really believe that…. do you?" Jack asked seriously, interrupting Amanda and Daniel's conversation, "you adored your father, and he adored you".

"He betrayed me Jack…. left me alone…. and for terrorism of all things" Amanda replied bitterly, the subject of her father never failing to put her on a short fuse.

"Or so they say…."

"What are you Jack, a conspiracy theorist?" Amanda spat angrily, her fuse having quickly blown out "because I ignore those".

"No, I just…. The courts been wrong before, the legal system isn't perfect, but when I was younger I honestly thought your dad was, he was such a kind, fun loving man….. It's just hard to believe….. and I thought you of all people would….".

"Would what?" Amanda replied harshly trying to keep the tremble out of her voice, "you think I wanted to believe that….. you think I didn't deny and deny and deny despite all the facts piling up and all the people involved. It broke me Jack, and so I decided to grow the hell up…. maybe you should to", she added tensely, evoking only silence from her oldest friend who averted his eyes down not wanting to see anymore anger or hurt in her dark brown eyes.

"I'm sorry" Jack murmured tentatively, forcing himself to look into her eyes now, feeling the guilty pit in his stomach at having brought up such a painful topic, "forget I said anything". Amanda nodded her head slowly in reply, but the peaceful atmosphere around them and the ease in which they had been talking before was now broken for the night. They both knew it, but Daniel was the first one to say it, "We should probably be getting back home now, it's getting late".

"I'll take to the steering wheel" Jack muttered standing up quickly, not liking to listen nor agree with Daniel but knowing that it was probably best that they called it a night. Amanda looked like she wanted to be alone, and his own mind was now buzzing with more confusion and sadness. Turning his gaze back to look at her from where he stood near the hull of the boat, Jack noticed her tense composure had failed to return to the ease it had been an hour ago, it causing him to inadvertently clench his fist in frustration, especially as he overhead Daniel asking if she was okay, as though he'd hurt her.

He hadn't.

Or if he had he hadn't meant to, he was just trying to understand.

* * *

 **I hope you enjoyed this chapter... I will try my best to do better with the updating.**

 _ **I have only one question for you guys though... Team Jack and Amanda or Team Daniel and Emily?**_


	8. Chapter 8- Cockblock

**Disclaimer: I Do Not Own Revenge, I Just Love I** t

* * *

 **A/N Before I say anything I really want to thank all you guys for keeping up with this story despite how inconsistent I am with updating (uni life keeps me stressed and busy :/). I was really surprised and really happy about all the comments I received on chapter 7. I had honestly not expected that, I had thought that most people would have stopped reading. I'm really glad you guys stayed and are enjoying my story. I really love writing it, and it may not seem like it but your comments really do keep me motivated :)**

 **I was reading the comments and it seems pretty close between Team Jack and Team Daniel... however I think Team Jack had the edge in the comments xD.**

 **Anyway, without further ado.**

* * *

 **Chapter 8: Cockblock**

She was being stared at and whispered about, Amanda could tell from the way the girls leaned into each other talking in quiet hushes, and by the way the guys nudged each other playfully, their eyes lingering over her body taking in her first appearance. She was used to it... Being the subject of attention, it came as soon as her name was first revealed, but Collins Prep, Daniel's preppy, rich kids school was different, for she went by a different name now, one that held no connotations.

"They act as though, they've never seen a new student before" Amanda muttered snidely to Daniel, as he walked her from the office to her homeroom class. Conveniently, he was in the same homeroom, though their class schedule differed from there.

"Be nice, you promised you'd try... and smile, you'll make friends, people already like you".

"Based on what?" Amanda scoffed, as she eyed all the glossy, well-done up girls with their skirts clearly hitched up, and the arrogant looking boys rough-housing obnoxiously in the middle of the hallway.

"I don't know, you're uh..."

 _Pretty_ , Daniel thought but couldn't say. He meant it sincerely and as a compliment, but he felt as though Amanda would somehow take it offensively and he didn't want to make things awkward. It also sounded shallow and admittedly it was, but at this school people gravitated towards one of two things; good looks, and power, hence why he was put on such a pedestal.

"... you kind of give off a cool vibe, and plus, you're already friends with Daniel Grayson, which people make a big deal out of here."

"Oh yeah... you're mister king of the school... how cliche", Amanda muttered, as she looked up at him, taking in his good looks and smooth composure, matched with his kind chocolate coloured eyes. She could understand why, he was the definition of the American dream boy... and for some odd reason they were friends.

Sighing in frustration, Daniel shook his head, "I don't care if they see me like that," he replied quietly, "but you're…."

"Grayson!" Austin, one of Daniel's football teammates yelled loudly across the hallway as he jogged over with a group of five other guys who surrounded Daniel with obnoxious voices and their testosterone levels on high. "How do you always find the prettiest girls," they asked, eyes turning to Amanda, as though she was fresh meat... which in their eyes she probably was. "Is she the new girl people are talking about?"

"What's your name?" one of the guys asked, finally addressing her himself, as he arrogantly wrapped his arm around her shoulder, "Need me to show you around?"

Pushing him away from her ready to snap at him, having little tolerance for annoying guys or people in general, Amanda found another girl had already spoken for her.

"God Tyler, it's 8am, do you have to look so desperate so early in the morning".

"I'm sorry Ashley" he replied with a smirk, "I can't help it that you weren't enough for me last night".

Scowling at him with daggers, as the guys behind him began snickering, Ashley shook her head, "as if I would ever even let you touch me Tyler" she replied disgustedly, before turning to Amanda and grabbing her hand.

"Let's go new girl, I'm not leaving you here with these idiots", Ashley muttered, as she turned on her heels; her posse of four following her, encircling Amanda in the middle, and separating her from Daniel, who too was encircled by all his football peers.

Turning her head to look back at him, she watched as his lips mouthed, "I'm sorry, be nice".

To which she mouthed back, "Screw you".

God she hated high school... she had so little tolerance, and though she may not be Amanda Clarke anymore she'd be damned if she spent her time at Collins Prep faking nice or faking friendships.

* * *

It wasn't until last period when she saw Daniel Grayson again, she'd unintentionally spent lunch time with the Queen Bee and her posse, aka Ashley Davenport; the popular British bombshell. Surprisingly, the popular girl had taken an interest in her, and it amused Amanda to her core. Though she would be lying if she said she hadn't at least at one point wondered what it was like being one of the popular kids. Amanda constantly put up a nonchalant facade, but she too was a teenager, as fickle as any other.

She clearly hadn't missed much though, they had absolutely nothing in common, Ashley was all about makeup, boys, gossip, spa days, hot celebrities, and clothes. And she was all about well... definitely not any of those things.

It made her wonder though, if she would have grown up to be one of the popular girls if her father hadn't been a terrorist. The girls had pulled her into the group almost instantly as though they saw that she belonged or at least looked the part, and she'd heard the fellow whispers of her classmates, " _the new girls so hot, so pretty, so cool_ ".

When she had been a little girl she had loved dressing herself up and acting girly and feeling _pretty_ , just as much as she had loved rolling around in the sand and collecting clams. As she had entered the foster care system though she had stopped caring about pretty dresses and nail polish and her hair. Her looks hadn't mattered anymore... but then eventually they had again, not to her but to others. As Amanda hit puberty, she had started getting some stares which had made her feel uncomfortable; she hadn't known what to do. Amanda hadn't felt particularly pretty but boys would look at her as though she was, as though they wanted her... though she quickly came to realize that they only wanted one thing.

From there it hadn't taken her long to to notice what happened to the pretty girls in the foster care system and she hadn't wanted to be one of them. So she had dyed her pretty blonde hair raven black, worn over-sized sweaters, and jeans even in the hot summer months, and hid her vulnerable brown eyes behind thick black eyeliner and mascara.

But now all that had been shed. Her hair was honey blonde and fell in soft waves against her back, her clothes were worn to fit her slender frame, and her eyes were shed free of such heavy cheap black makeup so that only a thin layer of eyeliner and mascara remained.

She was different now, she was Emily Thorne, but she was also still Amanda Clarke and she didn't fit in with these girls, and nor this school. So at the end of the lunch period when Ashley had asked her to come to the beach with them after school, she had looked at her indifferently and declined the offer, explaining that she had little in common with them, and saw little reason to be friends. Ashley's eyes had widened in shock at her response, it no doubt being uncommon for her to be denied. She had recovered quickly though with a hard scowl plastered across her perfectly made-up face and a petty threat which escaped her red lips.

Amanda was unbothered by it all though, she had no ill-will against Ashley Davenport and had no intention of getting wrapped up in petty high school drama with her, she just simply refused to spend her time at Collins Prep listening to Ashley gossip and talk about irrelevant things, such as the newest Louis Vuitton handbag collection.

She really didn't care, she was only here because she had to be.

* * *

 **Three Days Earlier**

"Although the Judge granted you emancipation Amanda, she has asked me to keep an eye out for you for any problems will reflect badly on her practice of law, do you understand?" Victoria Grayson questioned, her voice ringing with clear authority.

"Of course" Amanda responded steadily, she had no intentions of starting any trouble here in the Hampton's.

"With that in mind emancipation comes with some requirements, the first being that you can adequately support yourself. We of course are going to kindly help you with that, and have set you up in a nice little apartment about ten minutes away from the school. However, the judge has also requested that you work a part-time job and so Conrad has set you up a little job in the filing room of Grayson Global."

"What if I can find a job on my own?" Amanda questioned quickly, the idea of working at Grayson Global where her father had once worked making her stomach churn in anxiety.

"You have no experience and no resume Amanda, and quite frankly the only things on your record are delinquent acts," Victoria responded snidely, to which Amanda had to hold her tongue and hide the irritation behind her dark brown eyes. Around Mrs. Grayson holding back was common, that woman never failing to rub Amanda the wrong way with her icy and pretentious attitude. "I just don't think it's wise for me to work where my father once did, if this secret was ever somehow exposed and people found out that the Grayson's let David Clarke's daughter work anywhere near Grayson Global there would be outcry."

"If your secret was ever exposed Amanda, you would be out of the Hampton's before the town could even outcry... remember that," Victoria responded curtly, her sharp eyes holding Amanda's unflinching gaze. "However, I'll give you a week to find your own job before we're finding one for you".

"But this" she added, handing Amanda a neatly folded pile of clothes which consisted of a Navy Blue blazer with an embroidered crest on the left hand side, a plain shirt, and a pleated skirt with stockings, "is non-negotiable, you'll be starting Collins Prep on Monday with Daniel. As Emily Thorne you are a wealthy friend of the Grayson's and you will reflect this accurately. This means maintaining good school attendance, keeping track of your studies, and refraining from getting into any school trouble or fights. If that cannot be accomplished then this arrangement will have to be reconsidered."

"I'll be good" Amanda responded candidly. She wasn't stupid, and although she wasn't going to pretend that this situation was perfect, it was still the best chance and the biggest break she'd ever gotten. She didn't plan to ruin that or leave the Hampton's to return to the foster care system, where she'd be completely isolated again. She was tired of being alone.

"And Amanda, one more thing," Victoria spoke with warning eyes."I don't want you getting too close to my son, he's growing into a very good young man".

"And you think I could ruin that?" Amanda questioned with narrowed eyes, feeling provoked but unsurprised by Mrs. Grayson's comment.

"Trouble seems to follow you Amanda, whether you create it I don't know, but I do know that no trouble's touching my son".

"Well you have nothing to worry about," Amanda replied stiffly, "Daniel and I are only friends".

"And that's all you'll ever be, darling", Victoria responded in a sickeningly sweet voice, her words like many, no doubt her warning to the young girl in front of her.

"Of course" Amanda replied slowly, wetting her lips as she opened her mouth to speak again knowing full well that she shouldn't. She couldn't help it though, wanting more than anything to ruffle Mrs. Grayson's silky feathers. "I can understand why given the history, I suppose ". History of cause being the torrid relationship between her father and the queen herself; a Clarke and a Grayson.

"There is no history", Victoria responded icily, her eyes darkening as they bore into Amanda's steady gaze, knowing exactly what she was alluding to. They were both very good at that; reading between the lines of each other's words. Maybe it had to do with the shared but unvoiced animosity they held for the other. "Another thing you'll do well to remember".

* * *

"How did you manage to get on the bad side of Ashley Davenport on your very first day of school?" Daniel groaned to Amanda as they walked to the sleek silver Tesla his parents had bought him for his 16th birthday.

Stepping into the car, Amanda just shrugged as he turned on the engine, "I don't know, I just told her I didn't care to be friends, we don't have much in common that's all".

"Jeez, Emily, you were supposed to try and be nice, and at the least not offend the most popular girl in school".

"I did try", Amanda quipped with a nonchalant roll of her eyes, "I even sat with her and her posse at lunch, but their incessant talking about boys and clothes and stuff quickly became irritating. They seem shallow I just couldn't... why do you even care Daniel?".

"Because I caught Ashley trying to spread nasty rumors about you in fourth period, and I don't want you to have to deal with such bullshit. I stopped her and let her know you were off limits though".

"My hero" Amanda replied sarcastically, "I could have handled her".

Sighing, Daniel shook his head, "This school is supposed to be trouble free for you remember?"

"I know" Amanda muttered, as the car finally rolled into motion, "Speaking of Ashley, she made sure to mention how you two used to be a big item and stuff. I never thought of her as your type?"

"She is definitely not my type", Daniel objected with a frown, "If she was my type I'd still be dating her, which I'm not. I mean when we were together we did have some nice times and stuff but she's full of drama, and like you said very shallow. I just wasn't as into the relationship as she was, it wasn't fair to her which was why I broke up with her".

"Makes sense" Amanda murmured, "of course she told me a different story though".

"Yeah, I know it well", Daniel sighed in frustration, "she told the whole school as well... how I broke up with her a day after taking her virginity. She wanted the whole school to see me as just another popular asshole, and herself as the popular victim. I'm not the type of guy to do that though".

"I know", Amanda replied simply, "That's what I told her".

Smiling at Amanda, relieved she hadn't bought into the lie about him, Daniel tried to smoothly segue into the next topic, knowing she wouldn't like the lie he had made up about her. "Also", he began to say slowly, "Speaking of relationships... I kind of told all the guys that you have a boyfriend who goes to NYU".

"Daniel!" Amanda snapped at him, her eyes narrowing in a mixture of annoyance and surprise, "Why would you do that?".

"You're the cool new girl everyone wants to get to know, and I heard the guys making bets on you, like who'd be the first to take you out and stuff... They're all idiots and assholes though, I didn't want them bothering you, so I told them you were dating a cool college guy and that they stood literally no chance with you".

"So you basically cockblocked me from all the guys on my first day of school?," Amanda responded with raised eyebrows, trying to be mad at Daniel for overstepping, but watching with too much amusement as Daniel shifted uncomfortably in his seat, before awkwardly turning his dark brown eyes to meet hers unsure of how best to respond.

"I just..."

"Relax", Amanda muttered with a smirk, unsure of whether to be annoyed or thankful for his interference. "But seriously Daniel, I know you're trying to look out for me but I can take care of myself."

"I know" Daniel responded firmly. _But someone has to worr_ y, he couldn't help but think to himself. Amanda had no parents or family looking out for her, so as one of her only friends he at least wanted to try. Though if he was being completely honest, the boyfriend lie was just as much for him as it was her. He knew how his football friends talked about girls and treated them. Admittedly, they weren't all bad but regardless, they'd been talking about Emily like catching her would be a prize to be won, and he couldn't stand the thought of any of those idiots trying to get close to and hit on Amanda Clarke. As he'd told Ashley, she was off limits.

* * *

Sitting on the bar stool, watching as Jack wiped the counter and restocked the liquor at the Stowaway. Amanda waited until Jack finally turned around again to face her, "So first day on the job today, how do you feel Amanda?" he asked with a crease of concern in his kind blue eyes.

"I don't know, I just never thought this would be happening... I heard my boss can be a real hard ass", she added looking up towards Jack with a playful smile.

"Hey now!" Jack replied faking anger as he threw the rag in his hand towards her, a smile cracking through his fake composure, "that's my dad you're talking about".

Chuckling, as she threw it back at him, Amanda let out a quiet sigh, feeling relief at how the job situation had worked out, "I'm excited to be working alongside the Porters here at the stowaway" she replied honestly this time. Jack had pulled through for her again, like he always did.

"It won't all be fun though, around 6-9 on weekdays it can get pretty busy because it's around the time most people get off from work. And fridays and saturdays we always have a steady crowd. Some customers can get impatient and cranky too, but just let my dad, Steve or Chris handle those types of people. Also doing inventory is the biggest drag. And remember, we're underage so we're not supposed to be serving the alcohol, leave that to the bartenders or my dad could get in trouble. And one more thing my dad does tend to be a hardass about workers who show up late".

"Gotcha", Amanda murmured, nodding her head, "don't worry I'll be good".

"I know, I'm not worried" Jack replied easily, as he instructed her to pass him the empty glasses along the bar table. "So how's it been at your preppy rich school, you've officially made it through one week. Congrats".

Shrugging her shoulders Amanda, sighed, "I don't know it's just like any other high school except kids are a lot more pretentious, I can barely stand them. Though for some reason they seem to like me, I guess my new kid status hasn't worn off yet. Lessons are harder to bullshit at this school too, so I actually have to try and focus, but they've all learnt a lot of stuff I've missed, so I feel like I'm always going to be behind".

"You're smart, Amanda, it may take some time, but I'm sure you'll catch up... It might be quicker if you made some friends though... they can't all be bad".

Rolling her eyes at him, Amanda shook her head, "I don't need friends there, I'm fine".

"So what do you do then?" Jack questioned, "Just hang out with Daniel most of the time?".

"Not really, Daniels always surrounded by people, I just do my own thing, which I honestly prefer".

"I wish you'd come to my school, can you imagine that?," Jack said with a gentle smile, "I wouldn't let you be alone even if you wanted to".

* * *

"Is Emily still locked in her room" Daniel questioned Charlotte, as she waltzed into his own room and plopped down onto his bed with a heavy sigh.

"Yeah, I wanted to show her my new hairstyle but she's busy drawing again".

"How long does it take to draw one picture", Daniel murmured, referring to the picture she had promised Jack that night on the boat ride. The night they had actually ended up fighting though by the next day they were fine again; their heavy argument having been shoved under the rug more than resolved.

Charlotte shrugged her shoulders as she replied, "she told me she hasn't actually started the picture yet, first she's practicing with the new art supplies, getting used to their feel."

"Oh," Daniel exclaimed, wishing he could see at least something of her art, even it was just scribbles. "I'm glad she's enjoying the set".

As a present for her emancipation, Daniel had shopped at the huge art store downtown and bought her a fancy set of new art supplies and equipment. He hadn't known what she liked best so he had kind of overcompensated and bought not only sketching pencils, coloured pencils, and sketching pads, but also a nice paint set, with brushes and canvases, and whatever else the lady in the store had said was necessary.

He had kind of realized he'd gone overboard after the fact, so feeling embarrassed he had made Charlotte present her with the gift. Amanda had known it was all him though, and had gone into his room to thank him, her chestnut coloured eyes having twinkled with such excitement and gratitude though she'd held her cool composure.

It was the sweetest thing, but with her new art supplies she'd been even more occupied and secretive with her artwork. She hadn't gone down to the bench with him for days.


	9. Chapter 9- Dissonance

**Disclaimer: I Do Not Own Revenge, I Just Love It**

* * *

 **Chapter 9:** **Dissonance**

Stepping into the dimly lit rustic looking bar, adjusting to the loud sound of laughter, shouts and clinking glasses, Nolan Ross scanned the large buzzing room with his alluring blue eyes. His gaze finally landing on his dark haired date sitting in one of the comfy maroon coloured booths near the back wall. With a seductive smile on his lips, and a playful look in his eyes, Nolan adjusted his bold striped shirt collar and confidently approached.

"That's Nolan Ross", Jack Porter whispered to Amanda Clarke, as he wiped down the bar counter for the third time that hour while she dried the newly washed glasses with a tea-towel.

"Surely, you've heard of him online and stuff. Apparently he's a tech genius or something, there's been a lot of buzz about his Nolcorp products and how they are quickly becoming a strong competitor to Apple and Microsoft. He's come here before but doesn't come too often, which is a shame because he tips big. He's new money as opposed to old money like the Grayson's".

Nodding her head slowly, not particularly interested in Jack's tidbit of information on the man, Amanda grabbed the order pad Jack handed her as he directed her to take his order. So walking up to the colourfully dressed and apparently rich blond man, and what looked to be his date, Amanda presented her best faux smile, as she asked what she could order them for the night.

"I haven't seen you around here before Kitten," Nolan Ross remarked with a friendly smile as he looked up towards Amanda, his ocean blue eyes staring at her intently. It not going unnoticed by him how she tried to hide her scowl as the nickname _Kitten_ flew off his lips. "Are you new here?".

"No", Amanda replied curtly, not knowing whether he was referring to the Stowaway or the Hampton's but not wanting to elaborate either way.

"Hmm" Nolan murmured, as he looked towards the bar counter where both Carl and Jack Porter were working. "I heard that Porter boy whisper something to you when I walked in, what did he say?".

"You're observant," Amanda muttered, gaining a sly smile from Nolan in return, "Always... I have a fine eye for detail".

"He said you were some kind of tech genius or something, and sell some fancy Nolcorp technology stuff".

"Sell", Nolan Ross exclaimed, shaking his head in contempt, despite his eyes having lit up at the word _tech genius_. "I create them, design them from scratch... what else did he say?".

"That you're rich and you tip big so to be extra nice", Amanda replied candidly, watching as his lips curled up into a smile and he began to laugh at her brute honesty.

"You clearly have no subtlety," he responded, as he adjusted the yellow handkerchief in the breast pocket of his bright red blazer, "but you're amusing, what's your name?".

"Amanda"

Here at the Stowaway, she went by her real name. It wasn't intentional but Jack called her Amanda, refusing to call her by a fake name, even if it had once just been a fun pretend name for the both of them as kids. That was different he had told her, that was just a game, but in real life Emily Thorne wasn't who she really was, she was Amanda, and so that's what he was going to call her.

It had just followed that her co-workers called her Amanda too, and then the customers as well. It was ridiculously unlikely that she would be found out at the Stowaway anyway. Amanda was a very common girls name, and it was not as though anyone knew her last name except for the Porter's. More so than that though, this was the other side of the Hampton's, the less luxurious side, where power, politics, money, and influence were much less poisonous. So even if her identity was discovered, she felt as though the locals would not react in the same destructive way as the wealthy people in the Grayson's world would.

She hadn't admitted this to Jack, but she liked being Amanda at the Stowaway. She felt more at ease not having to hide or pretend with Jack or within his environment. She could be herself, without the worry that she'd be found out and the Grayson's would essentially banish her from the Hampton's. In fairness, she could be herself with Daniel too, but that was different, because that was only when the two of them were alone, with the exception of Charlotte. When they weren't alone, at school for example, her facade had to go straight up, but with Jack in all instances she could just be Amanda Clarke.

"Hmm... nice to meet you Mandy", Nolan replied as he held out his right hand for her to shake. There was something intriguing about the teenage girl, something that he felt the need to uncover... he could sense it, he just couldn't put his finger on it right at that moment. Nolan's mind being distracted by the hot presence of his handsome date, who had subtlety rested his hand on Nolan's left upper thigh, silently demanding attention from underneath the table.

"Just Amanda" she replied with narrowed eyes, leaving his hand hanging. She hated that nickname, and had ever since she was a little kid... it just didn't suit her. "Now what can I get you and your friend to drink?".

* * *

There was a certain disconnect Amanda felt as she walked abrasively through the swarming bodies of students filtering into the main hallway at Collins Prep. The second warning bell signalling the end of lunch had just rung throughout the main building. It's piercing shrill smothering for just a short moment the incessant sound of countless voices competing for attention in the form of shouts, murmurs, chatter, and laughter.

She didn't belong.

It had been three weeks since she'd started Collins Prep private school, and any warming up that should have occurred by now for Amanda just hadn't happened. She was drowning in the school environment Daniel Grayson appeared to thrive in. She just couldn't keep up.

What little interactions she had with her peers exhausted her... they were so different, all glossed up and barricaded in their perfect little bubble, that even the nice ones she could only just tolerate.

It wasn't even the loneliness that was getting to her; she preferred being alone. The hard part was being stranded in an environment where everyone else felt so fundamentally different to herself. She kind of missed regular high school, with dusty hallways, scratched up lockers, and cheap cafeteria food. At least there... though an outsider as the terrorist's daughter, she still belonged.

In her past public high schools, she had never really been challenged academically either. The teachers had always ended up overlooking her and her abilities because of her status as a Clarke. Consequently, she herself had ended up disregarding her own studies, and as a result had often neglected homework, skipped class, or paid minimal attention when in them.

At this school though, academic excellence was expected, and she felt grossly under par to the rest of the students. Amanda had always self-identified herself as smart, and she knew that if she had done the work and put in the effort in her past schools she could have gotten A's. However, she was so used to being apathetic regarding her school work, that now that the spotlight was on her to excel, she was scared to put in her full effort and find out whether she still had any real intellect left in her.

She felt stuck... It was hard... Harder than she had thought being Emily Thorne on the surface and Amanda Clarke underneath. Originally Amanda had been secretly relieved that she could hide her identity in the Hampton's and just go by a different name without any bad history. But the way Victoria Grayson had planned it, she had more than just a different name to be, she had a whole unfamiliar identity to emulate.

It was starting to screw with her head.

* * *

"Come to join us?", Tyler Barrol asked with a smirk, as he spotted an agitated Daniel Grayson approaching where he and Amanda casually stood. They were skipping fourth together, camped out behind the back of the school building, standing almost shoulder to shoulder with their backs leaning against the steady brick wall, a humid smoky haze billowing out of the marijuana joint Amanda held nonchalantly to her naturally pink lips.

"I never knew your friend was such a rebel", Tyler, couldn't help but comment, noticing the way Daniel's body tensed at the sight of her smoking and enjoying winding him up. "I totally dig it though... it's hot.".

"Shut up Tyler", Daniel spoke through clenched teeth, trying to ignore him as he turned his attention to Amanda; frustration pooling into his dark brown eyes and spilling into his voice as he began to speak. "What the hell are you doing Emily? You're supposed to be in English class, don't you have a presentation today?".

"I never finished it", Amanda replied simply, taking another puff of the joint before handing it back to Tyler, who watched their interaction with curious amusement.

"Great choices," Daniel spoke sarcastically, "Why are you acting like this?".

"Like what?" Amanda challenged, her eyes narrowing at him, waiting for him to bite back. He never did though, knowing that in his frustration he could easily end up saying something he didn't mean, and though she projected the image of being ready to fight, in reality he knew she was more fragile than her act. He knew her better now.

"Look", he said slowly, trying to reason with her and sound less abrasive, "You can't afford to act like this, you know that…. be smart. I spotted you guys by complete accident from the third floor window. If a teacher had, you'd be in shit with the school right now and with... well you know, you don't want that Emily. Whether you like it or not this is your best option right now, and you should take advantage of it. This is one of the top private schools in North America, its..."

"Daniel I don't give a fuck about school... what future do I even have under my circumstances?" Amanda interrupted abruptly, locking her irritated brown eyes with his. She was not in the mood for a lecture, least of all from the golden-spoon fed Grayson heir.

"Depends on what effort you put in. If you get good grades here, that completely widens your margins for what you want to do after high school, especially with colleges" he replied rationally.

Shaking her head in disbelief, Amanda almost laughed.

"Daniel, my father has connections with the Dean at Yale, he can get me into there regardless of my grades and the cost of tuition is obviously not a worry to us."

"Emily..."

"and once I'm there Emily Thorne will thrive just like she did here at Collins Prep, and to hell with her past... that won't be a problem because she's completely different now... right Daniel?"

"That's not what I meant, I..." Averting his eyes down not wanting to see the vulnerability in her eyes that he had heard laced into the scorn of her words. Daniel shook his head, not knowing what to say or what the silver lining was... she was right... and he was stupid to make it seem so simple, so easy, when her situation was so complex. "I'm sorry" he murmured quietly under his breath, as he lifted his eyes to hold her gaze again. She was looking anywhere else but his face though.

"God you two act as though you're in some kind of lovers quarrel?" Tyler joked impudently breaking the silence, but not the tension in the smoky air, "you two are intense", he laughed, as he wrapped his arm around Amanda's stiff shoulders, "I thought you have a college boyfriend".

"Shut up, and go away Tyler! And take your drugs with you", Daniel responded indignantly, his eyes on Amanda waiting for her to shrug of Tyler's arm. When she didn't, he instinctively clenched his fists tightly, putting all his best efforts in blocking out the aggravation his current football teammate was causing him.

"We're just relieving some stress, having some fun... something I think you've seemed to forgotten. You used to hit bong shots with me last summer…. remember?".

"Last summer I was reckless, I've changed" Daniel replied curtly.

"Yeah, we've all noticed... me and the guys think you used to be so much more fun then. You're too serious now Danny... too _good_ for us. Don't you get that vibe, Emily, like he's Mr. Perfect or Mr. Golden Boy?", Tyler questioned, addressing Amanda now, as he held up the joint to her lips, watching as she inhaled deeply, taking in the astringent intoxicating smoke into her lungs, and exhaling with a heavy sigh.

Looking up towards Daniel, her hazy brown eyes staring into his aggravated dark eyes. Amanda shrugged her shoulders nonchalantly. She didn't feel like talking anymore, it was becoming increasingly more hard to focus concretely and she didn't want to anyway. She just wanted a good enough smoke to send her worries floating up above the euphoric high her intoxication would temporarily allow her. "He's Daniel Grayson" she finally responded, "he's just..."

"I'm just trying to look out for you Emily... because clearly you don't care to look after yourself", Daniel yelled in irritation, his tolerance having reached his threshold as he stepped closer towards her now, snatching the joint straight from her lips mid-puff. Finding the smoke and the heavy scent of the joint a nauseating reminder of the messed up summer he'd spent in an intoxicated haze, Daniel threw it angrily onto the ground and stomped out the tiny ember burning at the butt, before grabbing Amanda firmly by the arm and pulling her away from Tyler.

"You're full of bullshit Daniel", Amanda countered heatedly as she yanked her arm out of his grasp feeling extremely affronted by his touch. Any previous benefits she had gained from smoking the marijuana, having now faded out in her default to fight anger with more anger. Amanda could handle being yelled at by Daniel, that didn't faze her so much, but he had grabbed her too. And more than anything she hated being touched like that, it unintentionally bringing forth the feelings of vulnerability she had felt as a child at the hands of her foster parents. A feeling she had worked very hard to try and bury.

"You keep saying that you're just trying to look out for me Daniel, but you're just trying to make me be someone I'm not... and I'm not... I'm not her!". Amanda yelled in infuriation, her tone as sharp as knife, as it cut through Daniel's own anger, leaving him wounded by the heavy weight of her words.

Glaring at him, her dark chestnut coloured eyes, reddened by the effects of the weed, Amanda instinctively waited for Daniel to respond, not knowing what she needed him to say but knowing even in her anger that she was looking for something. Only receiving a maddening silence instead, as he stared back at her in a mixture of confusion, anger and sadness, Amanda shook her head before turning on her heels and walking away.

* * *

 _I'm not her._ She had told Daniel. Her referring to Emily Thorne, the rich, pretty socialite, with no troubles or bad reputation. But as she stood outside of the public high school's gate, branded in her stupid Collins Prep blazer, shirt and pleated skirt, she couldn't help feeling like she didn't belong even here either. It was confusing watching as groups of teenagers walked past her with looks of contempt and jealousy, whispering about what business someone _like her_ had here.

"Jack!"

Shrugging his backpack over his shoulder as he exited the school building, Jack scanned the stampede of students rushing out of school until he spotted his group of friends waiting for him, by what they had nicknamed the wonky tree.

"Guess who I spotted by the school gate today", Lucas, one of his friends asked him, as they all began to head towards the exit, more than happy to finally leave the school premises.

Shrugging his shoulder, Lucas quickly answered, "An Ivy girl... I don't know what lucky bastard in this dump she's waiting for".

"Lucky" Jessica, Lucas's girlfriend scoffed, "I'd say unlucky, those girls are way too high maintenance, it wouldn't work at all".

"Do you mean an Ivy Ivy?" Jack couldn't help but question "or..."

"Don't be a dumbass no college girl from an Ivy league school would be seen dead here, it's a baby Ivy girl, from um... I think it's that Cannon's Prep school or something".

"Collins Prep?", Jack slowly corrected, paying more attention to the conversation now, as he turned his head, trying to look past the crowds of students blocking his view of the front gate. It wouldn't be her, would it?

"Yeah probably, so you're coming over right, pizza and game night?"

"Yeah, uh... hold on" Jack muttered, as he began to walk away from them in the direction of the front gate. It was probably just coincidence but, "I have to check something".

* * *

"Amanda, so it is you", Jack said with a kind but confused smile, as he approached her. "What's going on are you okay?".

"I'm fine" she lied, trying to smile back at him, but it was half-hearted even for her.

"Don't lie to me Amanda", Jack responded with a frown, "Something's wrong... you should still be in school, I finish half an hour earlier than you... and your eyes are kind of red, have you been crying?" he questioned with concern.

"No, I've just been smoking weed", Amanda muttered, as she avoided his eyes, not wanting to see his disappointment in them, "and left school early... I just".

"Amanda..."

"Jack, I don't need to hear it from you". She quickly interrupted, knowing he was going to say something she didn't want to hear. He had said her name so gentle, but she'd heard the concern in his voice, and the subsequent part of him that wanted to scold her and tell her there was better ways to deal with things. "I just..."

"What do you need then?" Jack asked slowly, not sure how best to respond to her, but knowing more than anything that he hated seeing her like this.

Shrugging her shoulders, Amanda let out a quiet sigh. What did she need? She hadn't really thought about that. Her head still felt so heavy. She'd left school in a bitter mood, and had just wanted to feel better and so she'd taken two buses to get to Jack's school. She wanted Jack as her sense of comfort, she supposed, but she couldn't tell him that.

"Well my afternoons free" Jack said, breaking the silence, "And about two blocks away from here, there's this really nice diner place that has the best burgers. Treats on me... cause you're not really a rich girl", he couldn't help but joke, trying to get a smile out of her, even if just a little one.

As brief as it was, he succeeded.

* * *

"You haven't changed" Jack laughed, watching as Amanda dipped only the tip of her fries into her ketchup before putting them in her mouth. "What's the point of even asking for ketchup, when you barely even let the fries and the ketchup touch".

"Well I don't see the point of you even ordering fries with your burger if you're just going to drown them in your ketchup and make them soggy" Amanda, countered with a playful smile. "You're the one who hasn't changed though Jack. I've changed a lot, but you're still pure and genuine... and good. I don't even know what I am anymore".

"You're strong", Jack responded earnestly, "the strongest person I know. You've been through so much, and it may have dragged you down but it hasn't pulled you under. You're still fighting the waves, and staying afloat. I admire you for that, I really do Amanda. And you say I'm good as though you're bad... as though we're opposites, which is bullshit. You may be better at hiding it or shielding it, but you have a pure heart too. I know you well Amanda, no matter how much you try to keep from me."

"It's just hard Jack", Amanda whispered, her jaded brown eyes staring into his honest blue ones searching for clarity.

"What is?"

"Faking it, pretending to be someone I'm not".

"Is that why you got high and skipped school?"

"I don't know... maybe. I just feel so confused. How is this even going to work in the long term? How long do I have to be Emily Thorne and under the Grayson's thumb for? They're paying for everything; my school, my own really nice apartment, my stupid brand name clothes... and for what? I still don't understand. Me and Daniel got into a fight today because he saw me skipping class and smoking weed. He said I was being stupid, and that I should take advantage of the school because it's one of the best in the country and could expand my future choices for after high school. But the truth is, I never really thought about my future or what I want to do with it. I had always just thought about how I would be able to support myself once I got out of the foster care system. But I know he's right, it is a really good school, and even if I don't care to make friends, I should at least try harder to keep up in my classes. But at the same time I feel like it doesn't matter because Emily Thorne is the one on the school's record and she doesn't exist, so even if I get a good education, I wouldn't be able to use it as Amanda Clarke anyway."

"I'm sorry", Jack responded slowly, trying to find the right words he wanted her to hear, "I never really thought about how complicated this must be for you, and I don't really have any answers, but I think you kind of just have to let whatever's happening play its course. And if shit ever does hit the fan, I'll be there for you, and we'll figure it out together, I promise you that. And your future might seem kind of twisted right now, but maybe Collins Prep might help you figure out what you want to do, or in my case, schools taught me what I don't want to do with my life. I don't really know, I just know you deserve a good future, and one way or another you'll get it. I'm sure of that".

"I hope so" Amanda murmured, feeling a lump begin to form in her throat. It was hard listening to Jack and all his kind, warm words. He cared, and in a bittersweet way, knowing there was someone who really cared about her made her want to cry. "You're a really good friend Jack, you always know how to make me feel better".

"That's what best friends are for right?" Jack responded with a lighthearted smile, one which Amanda reciprocated, this time her smile reaching her eyes.

* * *

"Daniel, what are you doing here?", Emily questioned with tired brown eyes, as she walked up to her apartment to see Daniel presumably waiting for her. He was sitting on the floor with his back resting against her door, looking almost as tired as she felt.

"I'm glad you're alright", he responded, ignoring her question as he stood up from the floor, his legs feeling stiff from having sat for so long. "I was worried... you left school high, and you weren't responding to any of my texts or calls".

"I was fine, I was with Jack, and my phone was dead."

"Of course" Daniel muttered, "Look anyway, I just wanted to apologize to you. I overstepped... I got mad seeing you with Tyler because he's just trouble, and I got mad seeing you smoke weed because I think you're stronger than smoking to try take away your troubles. It doesn't help by the way, not in the long run".

"I know how drugs work Daniel", Amanda sighed, "but it was stupid, I know that too. I just really wanted a release."

"From Emily Thorne?" Daniel questioned slowly, his eyes staring at her intently now, searching for an answer.

"Yeah, it's getting kind of hard, Daniel" she replied honestly, her eyes holding his steady gaze, allowing him to try and read her.

"You know, it's not true what you said. I don't want you or need you or are trying to make you someone you're not. I don't need you to be some perfect rich socialite for me to like you. You're my friend Emily, and even though those nights in Connecticut, I never knew your real name was Amanda, you still acted true to Amanda Clarke, and I still liked you for it... I sought out your friendship. That hasn't changed. To be honest I don't really care who you are, I just want you to be your best self, which is why I got frustrated seeing you like that. I'm sorry though, I never really thought about how hard, and weird and confusing this must all be for you".

"Well like you said, this is still my best option right now", Amanda admitted, with a tiny reassuring smile. The smile being as much for her as for him. "And I'm going to try and be better with school, and whatever happens in the future happens... I'll figure it out then. Collins Prep is hard though, and the truth is I feel so behind".

"I'll help you catch up then" Daniel responded with a warm smile, feeling relieved that she'd decided to try. "We can study together in the library during lunch and after school if we need to, and trust me once you learn how all the teachers operate, it gets easier. Speaking of, when you left school, I went to the office and informed them that you were feeling sick, and also made sure to tell your English teacher, because she gives zeroes if you miss your presentation date and your absence for it is unexplained."

"Thanks Daniel... I um... I wanted to say that I'm sorry too. I know we both got kind of angry today and yelled at each other, but I stood right next to Tyler and didn't defend you when I should have. I was a shitty friend." Amanda admitted, with apologetic eyes, seeing a mixture of surprise and relief in Daniel's at her apology. "He's such an idiot too... I don't know how I even put up with him."

"I don't know either, must have been the weed", Daniel joked, making light of the situation now though it had wounded him at the time. "I forgive you", Daniel added sincerely, her apology helping to lift the lowered spirits he had felt today, "Just promise me you won't hang out with him again".

"That will be easy, I have no intention to".

Nodding his head slowly, Daniel began to walk away from her door. "I should probably get back home. Just one more thing", he added, as he lifted his kind chocolate coloured eyes to meet Amanda's.

"Our bench overlooking the ocean behind my house, when you need a release from Emily Thorne, I think that's the perfect spot for you to go. Maybe even there, if you'd let me I could call you by your real name".

Nodding her head slowly, feeling an unexplained sense of comfort from his words, Amanda bit down on her bottom lip before responding, "that sounds nice Daniel".

* * *

Plopping down onto the couch as she turned on her TV ready to relax from her long day, Amanda groaned outwardly, when she heard three consecutive knocks on her front door.

"Come in" she yelled, figuring it was probably just Daniel and that he'd forgotten to tell her something. When the knocks only persisted though, she sighed deeply, and got up to answer the door. Confused to see the rich, tall, lanky, blond man, she'd served at the bar a couple nights ago. He was dressed a little more down from that night, but still far more eccentric with his fashion choices than most men in the Hampton's would be. He was holding a wooden box in his hands, and was staring at her intently with his ocean blue eyes, as though he could see right through her, it was strange.

"Nolan... Ross?", Amanda questioned awkwardly, her hand on her front door, it remaining halfway shut. "What are you doing here?".

"Look, I know this must seem really weird right now, and I didn't know the best way to approach this and figured I just had to come out and say it. But there's something really important I need to tell you".

"I don't even know you", Amanda replied with narrowed her eyes, her body tensing in defensiveness, aching to shut the door and shut him out. Something stopped her though, she couldn't explain what, but it was as though she felt compelled to hear him out. He sounded crazy, and it wasn't a safe situation. He knew where she lived, and she lived alone, and he was much bigger than her. But yet as she stared at him, she couldn't sense any form of danger or maliciousness from him. He didn't seem like someone who would want to harm her.

"You're right, but I knew your father... he was good to me", Nolan Ross spoke slowly, sincerely, as he carefully watched her reaction.

She stiffened immediately, "I don't know what you're talking about".

"Yes you do", he replied quietly, cautiously, sensing her sensitivity and reactivity to the taboo subject he was about to breach, "I know who you are Amanda Clarke".

"You're crazy", Amanda responded instinctively, her face whitening, as she stared at Nolan Ross in anger, and began to shut the door, "Leave me, the hell alone".

"I would", Nolan replied, as he placed his hand firmly on her front door, stopping it so she couldn't close it all the way, "if I thought you would be fine on your own. But for reasons I don't understand, you're mixed up with the Grayson's and they're terrible people. Whatever they're doing for you... whatever they promised you... they don't really care... they're dangerous."

"So was my father", Amanda shouted angrily, clenching her fists so tightly that her nails began to dig into the palm of her hands. Taking a deep breath, Amanda forced herself to lower her voice to a whisper in case any neighbours overhead what she was saying. "my father was a murderer and a liar, so why would I trust you, huh?".

"Cause that's just what they want you to believe. Look at everything that you think you know Amanda, your father was protecting you".

"From what?" she scoffed,

"Open the box", Nolan urged, watching as her pained eyes shifted their focus downwards towards what was in his hands, "find out".

Observing the double infinity sign, intricately carved onto the front of the box, Amanda felt herself internally losing it, feeling overwhelmed by the resentment she felt for her father, a father she had once loved with all her young heart. There was a dissonance that had formed inside of her, one between faith and love, and blame and hate, and she had defaulted to the latter. It was easier that way. But now Nolan Ross, this stranger claiming to be an ally, was trying to throw a wrench into those thoughts of hers, and she wouldn't have it, she couldn't... she couldn't bear it.

Shaking her head fiercely, trying to block out all her confusing thoughts; to smooth over the renewed sense dissonance she now felt, Amanda glared up towards Nolan Ross, contempt clear in her voice, "Whatever that is, I don't want anything to do with it... or you, so just leave me alone".

"I'm not giving up on you", Nolan replied steadily, sadness reflected through in his clear blue eyes, as he stared down at the stubborn, confused and angry teenage daughter of David Clarke. "You know your father was the first person to believe in me, he invested in my company when no one else would. It's because of him and his support that Nolcorp and its huge success exists today. When you turn nineteen, you'll officially become 49% owner of my company. With all that money Amanda, you won't have to struggle or worry anymore, you could build a new life for yourself, one where you don't have to depend on the Grayson's. Just let me help you, I'm not your enemy... and open the box, your father left you journals that he wrote in prison. Journals that explain his innocence, and his love for...".

"I think I've heard enough", Amanda spat bitterly, having to bite her inner cheek to stop the angry tears she felt threatening her eyes. "I don't know what kind of sick game you're playing, but I'm not getting involved."

"Amanda"

"Leave me alone", she spoke through clenched teeth, using all her strength to slam her front door shut, and quickly locking it before crouching down on the floor, her knees hugged to her chest as she allowed her tears to fall freely.

This was too much, even for her.

* * *

 **A/N, thanks for all your comments last chapter, I hope you all enjoyed this one as well. Nolan's finally come into it, I know some of you were wondering when and how he would be introduced. Tell me what you think, any predictions on how this is going to play out?.**


	10. Chapter 10- Alright

**Disclaimer: I Do Not Own Revenge, I Just Love It**

* * *

 **Chapter 10: Alright**

Opening her front door to find a concerned looking Daniel standing there in his Collins Prep uniform, having clearly rushed straight from school, Amanda sighed, as she reluctantly motioned for him to come in.

"What are you doing here Daniel... Grayson?", she asked with raised eyebrows, emphasizing his last name as though to consciously remind herself of who he really was.

"Grayson", Daniel repeated with a scrunched up expression on his face, "Why so formal Amanda... Clarke?", he couldn't help but banter as he whispered her full name.

Frowning slightly Amanda shrugged her shoulders, she couldn't explain it to him, she didn't even know what _it_ even really was. "Well you are a Grayson aren't you?".

"Yes, by blood", Daniel replied confused, "I reckon it's both a blessing and a curse", he tried joking lightheartedly, receiving only a half-hearted smile in return. "So what's up with you Emily?".

"Nothing", she replied defensively, "I'm fine".

"You skipped school today and ignored my texts, even though yesterday I thought we cleared up our fight, and you told me you were actually going to start trying with school", Daniel responded slowly, trying not to sound judgemental.

"I didn't skip, I was sick", Amanda replied simply, however, observing the rather skeptical expression on his face she further elaborated. "I um, yesterday was a long day, and I woke up this morning with a really bad headache, and I just really needed this day. I wouldn't have been productive at school anyway, there was just too much in my mind, my head was really pounding".

It wasn't so much of a lie, not really. Her mind did hurt, it was more psychologically than physiologically though, although the two were probably intertwined. Nevertheless, she had hardly gotten any sleep last night, being too distracted by Nolan's cryptic words, and bittersweet memories of her father which she had tried so hard to bury. And when she had finally fallen asleep, she'd awakened some time later in a cold sweat, having had a nightmare, like the ones she had first started getting after being placed in the foster care system years ago. She had thought that at sixteen she had finally gotten over that phase but clearly her mind was still too weak and the shock of his words had sent her back there for the night.

She had truly needed this day to herself, to recover, and to stitch up that seed of doubt Nolan Ross had so cruelly and wrongly wanted to plant within her. It couldn't be true though, and she didn't want to hear it... not now when she was finally in a better place and learning how to come to terms with her father and his transgressions in a less self-destructive way than her younger self.

When Nolan had left he'd slipped a note underneath her door with his phone number written on it and the words, _call me when you're ready to learn the truth about your father._ She had crumpled it up and threw it in the garbage though, she was only ready to move on... she had to be. All the evidence had pointed to her father, and she couldn't put her faith in him again only to be completely broken.

However, in the deepest parts of her mind, Amanda couldn't deny the feeling that Nolan had seemed honest and earnest when he had spoken to her, and the fact remained that she had always felt uneasy around Mr. and Mrs. Grayson, who Nolan himself had implied were dangerous. But then maybe Nolan had just bought into her father's lies as she once had or maybe he was still in denial as she had once been. It was just too messy.

"I'm sorry", Daniel responded genuinely, "are you okay now though, or do you want me to run to the store and get you anything?".

"I'm fine Daniel", Amanda replied steadily, brushing off his well-intended concern. "I just needed to sleep it off, I guess. I feel better now, I actually did some painting today, I finally finished what I wanted too". Painting had been a welcome distraction from her troubled thoughts.

"You mean the picture you promised Jack?" he asked. Feeling a pang of jealousy that he forced himself to suppress.

Nodding her head, Amanda gave him an almost secretive smile, "I wasn't sure whether I wanted to paint it or draw it. But you brought me all those painting supplies, and they're such high-end quality too, and after practising I remembered that I'm just as good at painting as I am drawing".

"So you're finally admitting you're good now", Daniel said with a smirk, "in Connecticut you wouldn't even tell me that".

"In Connecticut you were a stranger" she retorted.

"So, now that I'm not a stranger, will you finally show me some of your artwork?".

" I don't know", Amanda replied with a reluctant sounding sigh "maybe".

"That sounds unconvincing. Come on, it's not like I'm asking you to draw me a picture like Jack".

"Do you really care that much?", Amanda asked him directly, her brown eyes staring into his trying her best to read him. "About seeing my art".

Shrugging his shoulders, Daniel looked away, feeling almost embarrassed as he muttered, "I just like getting to know you better, and art seems like something you value and it just makes me curious. It is important to you isn't it?"

"I don't know, I guess so, it helps me take my mind off things, and I feel at peace when I'm immersed in a drawing or painting. And also..."

"Also what?" Daniel murmured, noticing how Amanda's voice had quietly trailed off.

"It makes me feel closer to my mother." she replied slowly and softly. "The only memory I really have of her before she died, is of us painting outside. Well I say painting but I was probably only swirling random strokes against my canvas, but my mother, well she was painting, and I imagine it was probably beautiful".

"I bet she was amazing," Daniel responded kindly, "I wish you could have known more about her".

Nodding her head slowly, a bittersweet smile flashed across Amanda's lips, "Anyway", she muttered, changing the subject, "I was actually going to take my sketchbook and draw at the bench tonight after work, if you want to join."

"Is that your indirect way of saying you'll show me something then?", Daniel couldn't help but ask, questioning her intentions.

Shaking her head, Amanda laughed at his persistence, "Nope, sorry Daniel, my drawings are private, that's just my indirect way of saying I wouldn't hate to see you later if you ever shut up about seeing my artwork".

* * *

"It's beautiful Amanda", Jack said earnestly, his ocean eyes flickering with an abundance of gratitude and warmth as he stared at the painting she had made for him. A painting he couldn't seem to take his eyes off.

She had made it as a kind of tribute to their childhood memories. She had wanted to paint something important, something he'd truly appreciate and so she had painted him the past. She'd painted the Hampton's beach, from how they had seen it as kids. The warm sand with shells and beach glass embedded in it, the glistening ocean, the boundless sky, and the beaming sun.

She had drawn everything but them themselves. They were always moving as kids, always changing games, and never staying in one spot on the beach for long, and so every time Jack looked at the painting, she wanted him to imagine them doing something different. She didn't want to represent them as static, she wanted them to be dynamic; to be as real as they had been, and in a different way as real as they still were now.

The painting was clever though because although she hadn't painted them in it, she'd painted things that implied their presence. A blanket on the sand, an unfinished sandcastle, empty buckets and spades, a pile of the blue glass they had once avidly collected.

"It's perfect, I don't even know how you made it and put in all that detail, and got all the textures and colours perfect too... I love it. It's reminiscent of us, our days on the beach. I can vividly see us right there" Jack said with a nostalgic smile, "you're sitting in the sand working on the sand castle, Sammy's lazing beside you in the sun and I'm..."

"You have two buckets in your hands, collecting water from the ocean, so we can give our castle a moat." Amanda finished off for him. Laughing, Jack should his head, "I was going to say, burying my body in the sand like an idiot, but that works too."

Smiling warmly, Amanda slowly began to let him in on some private thoughts of hers that she'd never voiced to him before, "You know Jack, it's these memories that kept me going all these years when I felt lost, and alone, and in the dark. It was the thought of you that gave me comfort, and the hope that I would get to see you again. It sounds silly but I didn't really have much happy things to latch onto and so I latched onto thoughts of you."

"It's not silly at all, Amanda" Jack replied sincerely, as he very tentatively placed his hand on top of hers, giving her hand a gentle squeeze in his desire to make contact with her, if even just a little. "I've told you before that I feel guilty, that I couldn't be there for you physically, and that you went through all that with no support. And I know you've told me there was nothing I could have done, and I know that... but I still wish I could have protected you. I guess it makes me feel a bit easier knowing I was at least there for you in spirit though".

Her hand felt soft and warm underneath his, and he was relieved that she hadn't moved it. In fact he was almost certain that he saw a tiny smile grace her lips when his hand had touched hers. He never knew what their physical boundaries were anymore. She didn't seem like the touchy type but sometimes he just really wanted to wrap his arms around her shoulder, or pull her into a hug, and sometimes he felt like she really needed that contact too. He had hugged her the day they had first reconnected, but that was on instinct and impulse... that was different. Now he was unsure of how she'd take it.

It had been so much easier when they were kids, he had never had to consider boundaries, he would just easily grab her hand when he wanted to pull her in one direction, and put his arm around her when she seemed unusually down. They had even kissed playing house, once or twice, although as kids it had only been tentative pecks on the cheeks.

However, he had kissed her on the lips just once. He still remembered it, and she probably did too. It was the the day of their pretend wedding which she had adamantly wanted to act out, wanting a reason for the both of them, but especially herself to dress up in fancy attire. After they had gone through the ceremony and exchanged their blue pipe cleaner rings, and while her father had quickly left to grab the cake, she had whispered into his ear that she knew how real weddings worked, and that the husband and the bride had to kiss to make the marriage final. And so wanting to make his bride happy, unsurely and very very quickly his lips had brushed across hers, leaving him red-faced and her cheeks blushing, and resulting in the both of them giggling as her father came back, his blue eyes and her brown eyes silently acknowledging that it was their top-secret of secrets.

Jack didn't know why he was thinking about that now, well I guess deep down he did know. It was because he'd begun to have thoughts about kissing her for real. About what it would be like to steal a kiss from sixteen year old Amanda Clarke. It was just that these thoughts and the feelings they underlined were things he was beginning to struggle with. They were best friends, and he didn't want to do anything that would jeopardize that or make things awkward between them, especially after all she'd been through, and after he'd just finally gotten her back.

* * *

"You're full of surprises", Daniel said with cheerful little laugh unable to hide his amusement, as he sat down beside Amanda on the hidden little bench overlooking the beach behind Grayson Manor. "You got me good".

Turning her head to look at him, trying to hide her smirk, Amanda shook her head feigning innocence, "I have no idea what you're talking about Daniel... and stop smiling so much".

"Well I'm happy", Daniel retorted staring back at her with gratitude in his warm brown eyes, "So all this time you were planning to paint me a picture as well. Why didn't you just tell me?".

"I wanted to surprise you", Amanda replied with a smile, "you seem like the kind of guy who likes surprises... and I don't know, I started painting Jack's and after all you've done for me, it just felt right to make you one too. Consider it a thank you present for everything. I mean, you're the reason I'm even here in the Hampton's and able to make something for Jack in the first place. You've done a lot for me."

"I haven't done that much, I..."

"Come on, you know you have", Amanda interrupted firmly, knowing he was trying to be modest but not needing him to try and minimize how he'd helped her. "Anyway, do you like it?".

"Like it", Daniel repeated, shaking his head, "I love it, it's beautiful Emily, it takes me back to the day we first met. I can tell you must have put so much detail into it too with all the different colours and textures, and the way you recreated that atmosphere perfectly on paper".

For Daniel, Amanda had created a very picturesque painting of the bench in Connecticut where their friendship had truly started. The small wooden bench overlooking the lake, partly shrouded behind trees. She had painted the setting as in the night time, with the little illumination of light coming from the dim lamp post standing tall beside the bench, as well as the moon and the few speckled stars which they had seen only on clear nights.

It was a beautiful painting but it was a stark contrast to Jack's. Jack's had been bright and vibrant and painted with warm colours. While Daniel's was mellow and painted with mostly cool and dark colours. But then the paintings represented different atmospheres, feelings, times and people. Day and night, sun and moon, happiness and anguish, past and fairly present, Amanda Clarke and Emily Thorne, and most obviously Jack and Daniel.

"Can I ask you why you didn't paint us in it?" Daniel asked in curiosity.

"I suck at drawing people, let alone painting them. I definitely would have messed it up." Amanda responded candidly, "And secondly, I um, I guess I like how the painting feels more ambiguous when there's no person or people represented in it. For me and you, we know we were there, and what we were doing, but for anyone else looking at the painting, I just want them to see a pretty picture of a bench overlooking the lake in the night time and to derive their own stories from that... if that makes sense".

"I think it makes perfect sense, I just never really thought of it like that. You're amazing Emily", Daniel said gushing, "and it's beautiful, your mum would be so proud at how talented you are."

"You exaggerate", Amanda replied slowly, shaking her head as a faint red flushed to her cheeks at his compliments, causing her to avert her eyes from his.

"I'm not", Daniel rebuked strongly, "And how did you even manage to get it into my room?"

"I snuck into your house while you were at school".

"Snuck in, Daniel said with a laugh, "Are you a part-time ninja in disguise too Emily?".

"I wish", Amanda responded with a smile, "I say snuck in, but I just knocked on your front door, and your maid Martha let me in".

"Thank you", Daniel murmured sincerely, sighing contently as he pulled out his poetry book, while Amanda re-opened her sketchbook and silently began to draw.

"You're welcome" she whispered back.

* * *

 **Two Weeks Later**

So this was what a house party was like, Amanda thought to herself with a sigh, as she sat on top of the marble counter in the back of the kitchen drinking her fifth plastic cup full of the clearly spiked fruit punch. She hadn't wanted to be here, but long story short, she'd lost a bet to Daniel, and as per their agreement, she'd agreed to _give the party a try_. Why Daniel believed she'd actually end up enjoying it was beyond her, but then Daniel was always annoyingly optimistic and simple-minded in ways. He had probably thought that in a more open and lively environment than school, she might be able to mix and mingle with her peers better... or some bullshit like that. Either way though he'd been completely wrong. Hanging around with cheerful, crazy, horny, drunken, rich high schoolers, was not her idea of a fun time.

Her head was beginning to hurt too, it was pounding; the alcohol in her system probably didn't help but she blamed the noise as the main culprit. The house music and synthetic bass were so obnoxiously loud that it was reverberating through the walls, the floor and her body, and on top of the music everybody was either screaming, shouting, laughing, or making out in random places.

Although Amanda had been with Daniel in the beginning, she had ended up losing him some time ago, which was a shame because if she had to admit it... with Daniel, she had kind of been having a nice time. They had just been sitting outside by the pool, talking casually, drinking lightly, and laughing with a couple of his friends who she supposed she didn't really hate. It had been simple and chill, instead of the buzzing giddy environment surrounding them. But then Mr. Popular had been whisked away to play beer pong, and though he had tried to decline at first, he'd been egged on so much that the only way to get everyone to shut up was to indulge them. Daniel had asked her to join him too, but she'd told him she was fine by herself. That had been a lie though, being alone at a party sucked whether you liked people or not, and though guys had tried to talk to her... well hit on her, and girls had tried to pull her into their conversations and laughter, she'd felt too uninterested to really indulge them. In a way she was her own worst enemy.

To be honest, Amanda really just wanted to go home but Daniel was the one arranging the ride back, and she had no money on her or anything to call herself a taxi. She was essentially stuck, and she knew that if she found Daniel and told him that she wanted to leave, he'd be kind enough to leave with her. But she didn't want to be the one to bother him. From what she had seen, he looked like he was having fun.

She was kind of jealous actually, she wished she could be as carefree as everyone else here; dancing, and laughing and kissing whoever they wanted. Sure they looked stupid and reckless, but they also looked happy and wild and free. They looked unburdened, that's how she wanted to be.

"Emily Thorne".

Turning her head to the source of the obnoxious male voice calling her, Amanda found herself sighing in annoyance as a fairly buzzed Tyler Barrol approached her. "What's a pretty girl like you just sitting here alone for. It's a party, have fun, come dance with me Emily", he suggested eagerly as he grabbed her by the hands, and tried to pull her down from the counter.

Pulling her hands out of his grasp in rejection, Amanda shook her head irritatedly, "Go away Tyler, go hit on someone else".

"I'm sorry", he muttered, frowning slightly as he jumped up to sit down on the kitchen counter beside her instead. "I guess you're not in the mood, are you okay? I have some weed if you want to feel more relaxed. We can smoke round the side of the house".

"I don't smoke anymore", Amanda responded firmly.

"Why, cause Daniel threw a tantrum last time you did?", Tyler ridiculed with a laugh.

Glaring at him, Amanda shook her head, the movement making her head feel heavier than it already was, "What's your problem with Daniel anyway... Jealousy? You honestly don't know anything Tyler, just go away".

"Jeez", he murmured feigning hurt, "Why are you in such a bitchy mood, is this because of Daniel?".

"I'm not in a mood", Amanda replied defensively, "and why would it be about Daniel? I just don't like parties."

"So why did you come?", Tyler couldn't help but question, "Wait... let me guess, Daniel convinced you to, even though he's left you most of the night and is spending his time with Ashley".

"Ashley", Amanda repeated, something about hearing that girl's name next to Daniel's making her stomach twist uncomfortably, "Daniel's not even into Ashley".

"Well he is tonight, he's all over her", Tyler responded, watching her reaction carefully as he showed her a picture from his phone of Ashley and Daniel sitting very closely together by the pool. I hope he's not your ride, who knows where he'll end up tonight".

"I honestly don't care", Amanda responded sourly, feeling something close to jealousy, as she jumped down from the counter, wanting to fill her cup up with whatever drink still remained on the table. She had stood up too quickly though, finding herself feeling dizzy and unsteady on her feet as though all the alcohol had quickly rushed to her head, reminding her that she needed to slow down. "I have a boyfriend remember".

"Right", Tyler muttered, jumping down too and wrapping his right arm around her waist to help steady her, "Well while, your boyfriends hundreds of miles away, and Daniel's trying to get into Ashley's pants, at least let me entertain you for the rest of the night. Unless you want to sit bored by yourself."

"I don't even like you Tyler", Amanda muttered sharply, finding her voice was beginning to slur.

"Well I like you very much", he responded with a smile, as he poured some of his drink into her empty cup and moved his arm from her waist to grab her hand instead, guiding her into the heart of the party, "you're gorgeous Emily".

* * *

He had overdone it a bit this time Daniel thought to himself as he walked through the house trying to find Emily. He had known that parties included alcohol, and that alcohol plus himself wasn't a good mix. If last summer had taught him anything, it had taught him that, but he'd generally thought he was smarter now... at least a little more than back then, and that a few drinks wouldn't spiral into a lot of drinks, but he'd overestimated himself, and was now beginning to feel the full effects of the alcohol.

His body felt unsteady, and heavy, and his mind was dizzy and slightly disoriented. He consciously had to force himself to concentrate on the simplest of things. It wasn't ideal, in fact it was reckless, especially since he'd brought Emily with him. He had thought he'd drink less with her though and that probably would have been the case if he hadn't unintentionally split from her. He had kept getting pulled and pushed into every which direction, and although he had tried to keep an eye out for her, the more intoxicated he became the harder it became. He would remember to apologize to her tomorrow when he was sober. Right now though, he just wanted to quickly find her and leave the party, which was turning out to be no easy task. He'd looked everywhere and back again for her, although admittedly it was a huge house. He just hoped she was okay.

Stumbling into Ashely Davenport, Daniel found himself being flashed with a flirtatious smile, as she latched onto his arm, "Come dance with me" she suggested with a giggle, as she leaned up to kiss him on the cheek. Her smile morphing into an immediate frown as Daniel shook his head, and removed her manicured hands from his grasp.

"I can't", Daniel replied trying to sound steady, "I told you I'm leaving now I just need Emily first. Have you seen her?".

"What's with your preoccupation with Emily Thorne?", Ashley responded defensively, her face scrunching up as Emily's name flew across her lips, "You have a thing for her don't you?"

"She's my friend, that's all", Daniel replied almost naturally. Though his response ended up sounding hesitant.

Crossing her arms, Ashley shook her head, not buying it, "You're such a bad liar Danny, I don't get it with her, sure she's pretty, but she seems completely disinterested in everything and she's standoffish, is she even any fun Daniel? Does she make you happy like I did, like I still can".

"Ashley, you're drunk", Daniel muttered in frustration, shaking his head, "And you honestly don't understand anything about her".

"I know she's all over Tyler right now", Ashley retorted with narrowed eyes, knowing her words would dig into him as she watched his eyes flash with confusion, jealousy, and worry.

"You're lying, she hates Tyler".

"No you hate him", Ashley corrected, What is it with you two...jealousy?".

"I'm not jealous of him", Daniel rebutted.

"Oh right, of course, you're Daniel Grayson, you're perfect, you're not jealous of anybody", Ashley said sarcastically with a bitter tone to her voice.

"That's not what I said", Daniel denied, feeling the aggravation within him starting to rise and trying his best to keep it at bay as he took a deep breath, "Look just please to me where Emily is, I don't want to fight with you Ash".

Hesitating out of spite, as she gazed into Daniel's pleading eyes, she couldn't help but cave into his request, as she sorely muttered, "Brittany told me that she saw the two of them going upstairs".

* * *

She couldn't explain it, Amanda thought to herself as Tyler's body pressed against her own, his hands unashamedly roaming her body in greedy desire, as his lips pressed against her lower neck. She couldn't explain it, but she knew definitively that no part of herself wanted this. Her body was burning at his touch, crying at the violation, and yet underneath the influence of the alcohol circulating throughout her bloodstream, those desperate feelings of hers were painfully separate from her ability to take decisive action.

Of course she had tried telling Tyler to stop, to shout, to scream, to shove him away, but the alcohol had left her feeling so dizzy and disoriented, that it was hard to think straight and form coherent words to push out at him, and when she had, they had only fallen on his insensitive ears. That was the scary thing, she'd left herself vulnerable to him, not even fully realizing until his lips were on hers that he'd lured her upstairs and into a room. He was strong too, much stronger than her, and her limbs had felt heavy and weak when she'd tried to shove him off of her and push his hands away. It was strange... feeling this helpless again, and yet being intoxicated it was a different feeling of weakness than the one she had felt as a child. As she was now, it was like she was trapped in two different ways; trapped behind the faded fuzziness of her drunken mind and body, and trapped physically against the wall by Tyler's own bigger body. But being this drunk gave Amanda one source of comfort, for if she closed her eyes and stopped trying to fight, she could feel herself fading in and out of consciousness, slipping into the temporary haze the alcohol allowed her, and in that state she could almost convince herself that it wasn't really happening, that it wasn't really her.

...

...

...

...

...

...

Amanda heard Daniel's voice before she saw him, a voice that shook with so much aggression and rage, that she almost didn't recognize it as his own, and a voice that rung painfully through her head, shattering any notion that her mind had truly slipped away. She had seen his infuriated brown eyes next. The room was dark, and though she could make out the outline of his silhouette, it was his eyes that had struck her. Eyes she wished couldn't see her. Not how she was currently; drunk and pinned against the wall by an asshole whose hand was halfway up her shirt, and erection hard against her thighs. But he was here, and she couldn't do anything but avert her eyes in the shame she felt, relieved at least by the fact that Tyler had tensed at Daniel's unexpected presence, his power balance having been disrupted, and his mind no doubt flooded with unease as he stumbled away from her body, muttering that he was sorry.

She knew he wasn't sorry though, even in her intoxicated state Amanda could tell that much. She could feel her blood still boiling from the violation he'd caused her, it wreaking havoc inside of her body. She desperately wanted to metamorphose that feeling into something that could lash out and cause him harm. To her frustration though the rest of her body still felt too dizzy and consequently weak to act upon that impulse, so instead she leant herself against the wall and shifted her focus to Daniel, silently begging him to take control of the situation and get her out of there.

He had stormed towards them with such fury when he had seen Tyler against her, but now that Tyler had put some distance between them, Daniel's advance abruptly halted about halfway between the door and where Amanda stood against the back wall. His body going completely tense, and his hands clenching into fists, as his eyes swept over her, before locking onto Tyler with a murderous glance.

Amanda looked unsteady to him, like she was just barely keeping it all together; both physically as she leant against the wall, and emotionally, but Daniel didn't know how best to help her. Not when all he could find himself doing was trembling in the fury he felt staring at her dishevelled appearance and back to Tyler's unapologetic face. The truth was he was unsteady himself, and trying extremely hard to hold it all together for her. But every time he stared at her and saw the pain in her eyes hidden behind her infuriation, or looked down to see the undone buttons on her shirt which her fumbling fingers had missed to do back up when Tyler had stepped away from her, he only found himself wanting to cause damage not work damage control.

"Look I'm sorry", Tyler murmured slowly, cautiously, not to Amanda herself, the victim of his behaviour, but to Daniel Grayson, as though Daniel was the one who'd been hurt by him; the one disgustingly groped in the dark without having given consent. It was infuriating, even more so then Tyler not apologizing at all, not that he meant this one. "I got a little carried away that's all, you know how it goes. We were just having fun at first, I thought she was into it, I had no intention of hurting her, I...".

"Shut up Tyler", Amanda spat out at him, her voice beating Daniel's, it though hoarse and unsteady having returned, it trembling in the overwhelming amount of disgust she felt for him, as her resentful dark brown eyes bore holes into eyes of his that only now turned to acknowledge her. "You tried forcing yourself on me because you knew that was the only way you'd ever get me. You're disgusting you're just some insecure jock who wishes you could be Daniel Grayson".

"And you're just some pretty girl with only one friend because you're too stuck up for everyone else." Tyler retorted unashamedly, his ego having become quickly bruised and inflamed by her words. "And you have no proof that I did anything you didn't like? Everyone saw us downstairs drinking together and stuff, and plus," Tyler added with a wink, "We were just making out, I didn't think I needed to stop, it was just a little fun Emily, relax you're...".

But before Tyler could finish his obnoxious sentence, the little ounce of tolerance Daniel had been holding onto disintegrated into his fury, as his body no longer shaking to control himself stepped closer towards Tyler Barrol, a heavy fist swinging straight into Tyler's jaw with such a force that Tyler smashed backwards against the wall. "I swear to God if you so much as look at her again I'll kill you", Daniel shouted threateningly, grabbing him with two hands by the front of his Marc Jacobs polo shirt, and pushing him even harder against the wall. But Tyler being slightly less intoxicated than Daniel was steadier on his feet, and with the right amount of correctly placed force he was able to roughly shove Daniel off of himself not feeling afraid to antagonize Daniel further. "You're just jealous" Tyler spat, his battered face morphing into an antagonizing smirk as he used the back of his hand to wipe the blood coming from his mouth, "that it was me in this room with her and not you, that I ever touched her before you did. Admit it!" he challenged, strengthening his stance as Daniel's second fist flew towards him. This time Tyler was ready for it though and managed to hastily defend himself before throwing a much desired punch of his own. Their angered fists powered behind their pent up resentment towards the other, escalating the situation into a full blown fight.

Amanda watched silently from where she stood, unalarmed by the violence, she was no stranger to it. She had learnt to be tough, and had needed to prove it many times in the past, and if she could have, she would have beat the shit out of Tyler as well. She wasn't a saint; forgiveness was not really her thing and neither was mercy. When someone hurt her she wanted them to feel that same pain and more. But something felt different tonight. Although there was no denying that watching Daniel's first punch smash into Tyler's face had been truly satisfying for her, as she kept on watching the fists fly, she found herself feeling only dizzier than she already felt instead of better.

In this very moment, Amanda needed space and air, even more than she needed Tyler to feel pain. She needed to breathe and get as far away from the party as she could. And though she couldn't verbalize it to Daniel now as his fists swung furiously at Tyler, she needed Daniel to take care of her, and not him. To grab her by her hand and get her out of the room, and look her in the eyes and ask her if she was truly alright. She wasn't Daniel's focus though, Tyler was, and so very unsteadily Amanda made her way out of the room and down the stairs herself. As she descended, she could hear more shouting as the fight no doubt attracted the attention of the other students who filtered eagerly into the room to watch. As they all gravitated towards the source, Amanda gravitated away from it until she made it to the front entrance of the house and stepped outside.

She breathed in deeply as the cool air nipped against her skin, it being a sharp contrast to that room, and the suffocating heat of his body against hers. The cool wind however, was only a slight and brief reprieve for Amanda as an overwhelming feeling of nausea began to rush over her. Trying to hold it in as her stomach churned violently, Amanda quickly rushed to the side of the house, as a warm putrid feeling rose up inside her throat, just before she let it out all out; retching painfully as the contents in her stomach propelled aversively out of her mouth and onto the ground.

Feeling water in her eyes from the burning, astringent sensation left in the back of her throat, Amanda stood up weakly, as she wiped her mouth, and took out her phone from her back pocket. She was in need of a friend and she had only one she could think of.

* * *

Stepping out of his father's blue truck, Jack Porter, looked up towards the huge house in front of him with apprehension. It was nearly one am now and he could still hear obnoxious music and shouting and laughter coming straight from that house and he wasn't even on the property yet. It was so obviously a house party, and so many things could go wrong at a house party, it was practically a breeding ground for trouble and stupidity, and from the sound of her call, something had clearly gone wrong for Amanda.

Briskly walking through the front gates and up towards the entrance where Amanda said she'd be waiting, Jack found himself sighing in silent relief when he spotted her sitting on the front porch. Though his relief rapidly dwindled when he stepped closer towards her and took in her appearance. She was clearly pretty drunk, but every one had been there at one point. It was more her tousled up appearance that worried him, and the saddened vulnerable look he caught hidden behind the haziness of her dark brown eyes. She didn't look too well.

"I'm here", Jack said slowly, as Amanda's eyes fell upon him in what looked like relief. Noticing her movements were unbalanced as she tried to stand, Jack moved closer towards her to help steady her; keeping a firm but gentle hold of her arm, as they began to walk slowly away from the house and towards his truck. "Are you alright Amanda?" he asked softly, the warm and concerned sound of his voice, bringing Amanda a silent but strong form of comfort. She didn't want to lie to Jack though. She knew she would be, but right now she didn't feel alright, she just felt sick, and so instead of answering his question she pursed her lips pretending that she hadn't heard him at all.

Once they were seated in his vehicle and strapped in, Jack turned his head towards Amanda, and tried again with another question. "What happened?".

"I just feel awful... I drunk too much", she murmured eventually, her words slurring. "I'm just drunk Jack, I want to go home".

Nodding his head, Jack started up the engine, propelling the truck into motion. "I'm going to take you back to my place, I don't want you alone right now", he responded firmly. Something had happened at that party to her, and it was much more than her just drinking too much. But as frustrating as it was being in the dark, Jack knew that it wasn't the right time to press her for details. He just wanted to get her home where she could rest and clear her head first.

It was just as Jack parked his truck outside the Stowaway, that Amanda's phone began to buzz. The loud ringing echoing throughout what been the calm silence of the night. Pulling her phone out from her back pocket, Amanda looked at her screen to see Daniel's name flashing across it but didn't feel up to speaking with him. She wasn't mad at him, not exactly, or maybe she was and just didn't know yet, but either way she was tired and didn't feel like answering, so she slid her finger over d _ecline call_. Just seconds later it rang again though, and as her hand hovered over _accept call_ , wanting to just end the persistent sound of ringing, Jack asked if he could speak to Daniel himself.

Nodding her head slowly, Amanda handed Jack the phone, watching as he put it to his ear, and noticing how his voice instantly sharpened in anger as he began to speak. Amanda hadn't caught the conversation, Jack had walked a couple of feet away from her when he began talking, and she hadn't cared to move closer to overhear. But as Jack handed her back her phone, she couldn't help being a little curious about what Daniel had said, and so she asked.

Jack sighed at her question and shook his head clearly irritated by just the mention of Daniel, but nonetheless answered truthfully. "He wanted to know where you were and if you were alright, I told him you were safe and with me. He also wanted to come here and get his driver to pick you up but I told him I was going to take care of you for the night, and that I wasn't letting him near you until he sobered up. He was clearly super drunk. He tried to persist about seeing you but eventually listened to me, and agreed to just talk to you tomorrow. He also kept telling me to tell you he was sorry which makes me wonder if he did something to you. Did he? Did you two get into a fight or something?".

"No", Amanda responded, shaking her head slowly, though she wouldn't meet Jack's eyes, which made him feel unconvinced, "Cause if he did something... I".

"It wasn't him, you don't need to be mad at him", Amanda muttered, as Jack opened his front door and ushered her inside the Stowaway. The both of them automatically moving towards their usual booth in the back. "I do", Jack responded indignantly, "He takes you to a house party that you didn't even want to go to, and clearly doesn't even look out for you like he's supposed to. He just gets hammered himself. And I know he probably promised to be your ride home but instead you had to call me because he was too busy being a drunken fool no doubt."

"I drank too much too". Amanda whispered, as her brown eyes gazed up into his, "I wasn't careful and, I... I nearly...".

"Nearly what?" Jack asked tentatively.

Averting her eyes to the mini menu at their booth, Amanda shook her head, not wanting to talk about it anymore.

"Do you have any water Jack?"

* * *

 **A/N Thanks, for reading, I hope you all enjoyed the chapter, let me know what you think. At least the first half was pleasant for both Jack and Daniel :P. Though the second half was pretty infuriating with what happened to Amanda. Do you think Jack has a right to be mad at Daniel for what happened and how do you think he'll react when Amanda tells him what went down? Things are definitely going to heat up next chapter, I'm super excited, though I won't tell you between who and whether heat up means something good or bad :P. Also Nolan will reappear again in the next chapter.**

 **Anyway, as always thanks for being so patient with the wait time in between chapters, and for posting such lovely encouraging comments.**


End file.
